Introduction
Outer space now underpins global security, and satellites provide vital communications, navigation, meteorology, and early-warning functions. Space-based systems are woven into military command-and-control and civilian infrastructure alike. But powerful states increasingly view orbit as a warfighting domain. Recent history shows “powerful countries are racing to weaponize the final frontier.” The explosion in satellite constellations and the deployment of dual-use technologies have crowded key orbits.[1] In parallel, counter-space capabilities are proliferating and emerging proposals, from AI swarms of interceptors to co-orbital satellites, promise fully autonomous space defenses. Together, these trends threaten a fast‐accelerating arms race. Unlike nuclear space weapons banned under the 1967 Outer Space Treaty,[2] conventional anti-satellite (ASAT) arms remain largely unregulated. Destructive ASAT tests have already created large debris clouds, imperiling all users and undermining strategic stability on Earth.[3] This looming crisis has prompted renewed calls for urgent arms-control measures. In late 2022, the UN First Committee for the first time adopted a draft resolution urging a ban on destructive ASAT tests.[4] As major power rivalries extend into orbit, these alarms highlight an urgent need for policy action.
