Global Security Newswire

Shortcomings in existing proposals appear likely to delay establishment of a pact to curb the deployment of weapons in space, the United States indicated yesterday (see GSN, June 29).

"I don't see any near-term progress on a space arms control treaty, but again I think there is a lot of shared interest between the US, Russia, China and others on providing space stability," Agence France-Presse quoted U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Frank Rose as saying.

"There are a lot of near-term confidence building measures that we hope to work with Russia and China on," Rose said following his presentation to the international Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, Switzerland (see GSN, June 7).

A space weapons prohibition floated in 2008 by Beijing and Moscow is a "flawed document," in part because it would not rule out ground-based antisatellite weapons, the official said. China and the United States each shot down one of their disused orbiters during respective tests in 2007 and 2008, prompting concerns about a potential buildup in antisatellite systems (Agence France-Presse/Spacedaily.com, July 13).

"The United States' policy is not to develop antisatellite capabilities," Kyodo News quoted Rose as saying (Kyodo News/Breitbart.com, July 13).

"We do not believe antisatellite capabilities are in anyone's interest, they are debris generating," he added, according to AFP. "We need to maintain a sustainable space environment, blowing up satellites is not consistent with that principle."

"With respect to negotiating a new space arms control agreement, we have not seen a space arms control agreement that meets the criteria ... on equitability and effective verifiability," Rose told the conference.

Brazil's delegate to the conference questioned Rose's assertion, suggesting a robust monitoring regime could be "attainable with the means disposed by not only one country but by many countries" (AFP).

Rose noted he would address space weapons concerns during a visit to Moscow next month. "We have some very good interactions and we are hopeful," he said (Kyodo News).