A trap of our own devising (Image: ESA)
IT STARTS with a handful of missiles taking out orbiting satellites. The shrapnel destroys more satellites and triggers a chain reaction, generating yet more high-speed debris. Before long, we’re trapped on Earth in the nightmare scenario: space is a no-go zone, made too dangerous to use for generations by countless chunks of junk.
That is the risk of “space war” that the US White House seeks to avoid with its , released on 28 June. The policy reopens the door to international arms-control measures against space weapons, reversing the…
