America is ending anti-satellite missile tests
No one wants Kessler syndrome. But will other countries follow suit?
“SIMPLY PUT, these tests are dangerous, and we will not conduct them.” So said Kamala Harris, America’s vice-president, in a speech on April 18th at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Ms Harris was announcing an American ban on full-fledged testing of “direct-ascent anti-satellite missiles”—ground-launched weapons designed to blow up satellites in orbit.
This article appeared in the Science & technology section of the print edition under the headline “Launch break”
From the April 23rd 2022 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the editionMore from Science & technology
Can you breathe stress away?
Scientists are only beginning to understand the links between the breath and the mind
The Economist’s science and technology internship
We invite applications for the 2025 Richard Casement internship
A better understanding of Huntington’s disease brings hope
Previous research seems to have misinterpreted what is going on
Is obesity a disease?
It wasn’t. But it is now
Volunteers with Down’s syndrome could help find Alzheimer’s drugs
Those with the syndrome have more of a protein implicated in dementia
Should you start lifting weights?
You’ll stay healthier for longer if you’re strong