III 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 864 

Expressing support for the draft United Nations General Assembly Resolution 

A/C.1/77/L.62 calling upon member states to commit not to conduct 

destructive direct-ascent anti-satellite missile tests, introduced by the 

United States at the 77th Session of the United Nations General Assembly. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 8, 2022 

Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself, Mr. HICKENLOOPER, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. 

KING, Mr. KELLY, Mr. PADILLA, Mr. MARKEY, and Mrs. MURRAY) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 

Foreign Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing support for the draft United Nations General 

Assembly Resolution A/C.1/77/L.62 calling upon member 

states to commit not to conduct destructive direct-ascent 

anti-satellite missile tests, introduced by the United 

States at the 77th Session of the United Nations General 

Assembly. 

Whereas the United States is joined by countries around the 

world in relying on Earth-orbiting satellites for— 

(1) navigation; 

(2) communications; 

(3) financial transactions; 

(4) media broadcasting; 


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•SRES 864 IS 

(5) agriculture; 

(6) detection and surveillance of threats and disasters; 

(7) scientific research; and 

(8) monitoring and forecasting of environmental parameters, including— 

(A) weather; 

(B) ocean conditions; and 

(C) vegetation health; 

Whereas the United States is tracking more than 47,000 objects orbiting the Earth that are larger than 10 centimeters, an increase of 47 percent since January 2021, 

and further estimates a population of more than 

100,000,000 objects larger than 1 millimeter orbiting the 

Earth; 

Whereas orbital maneuvering to avoid collisions consumes onboard propellant and shortens the lifespans of spacecraft 

missions; 

Whereas the proliferation of satellites and debris orbiting the 

Earth results in millions of potential collision warnings 

issued by the United States Space Command each year, 

while satellites and debris are expected to continue increasing exponentially; 

Whereas destructive direct-ascent anti-satellite missile tests 

create large and dispersed orbiting debris fields that deny 

satellites access to needed orbital space and threaten to 

inadvertently destroy other satellites and spacecraft for 

decades after such tests; 

Whereas a destructive direct-ascent anti-satellite missile test 

conducted by the Russian Federation on November 15, 

2021, long after the dangers of orbital debris became well 


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•SRES 864 IS 

known, produced more than 1,500 pieces of identifiable 

debris and threatened the safety of astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station; 

Whereas a destructive direct-ascent anti-satellite missile test 

conducted by the People’s Republic of China on January 

11, 2007, created at least 3,400 pieces of debris, of which 

79 percent is predicted to be in orbit 100 years after the 

event; 

Whereas the United States adopted a voluntary moratorium 

on the destructive testing of direct-ascent anti-satellite 

missile systems in April 2022; 

Whereas methods other than destructive direct-ascent antisatellite tests are available to test defense capabilities; 

Whereas the international community has previously banned 

destructive activities in space, including the atmospheric 

testing of nuclear weapons; 

Whereas, during a meeting of the Disarmament and International Security Committee of the United Nations (UN) 

General Assembly, the United States introduced draft 

UN General Assembly Resolution A/C.1/77/L.62 calling 

upon member states to commit not to conduct destructive 

direct-ascent anti-satellite missile tests; 

Whereas, on November 1, 2022, the Disarmament and International Security Committee approved the draft resolution by a vote of 154 to 8, demonstrating broad international support for the efforts of the United States and 

sending it to the UN General Assembly for consideration; 

and 

Whereas 8 countries have followed the example of the United 

States and committed not to conduct destructive directascent anti-satellite missile testing, including— 


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(1) Canada in May 2022; 

(2) New Zealand in July 2022; 

(3) Germany in September 2022; 

(4) Japan in September 2022; 

(5) the United Kingdom in October 2022; 

(6) South Korea in October 2022; 

(7) Switzerland in October 2022; 

(8) Australia in October 2022; and 

(9) France in December 2022: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) expresses support for— 

3 (A) the United Nations General Assembly 

4 Resolution introduced by the United States to 

5 call upon member states to commit not to con6 duct destructive direct-ascent anti-satellite mis7 sile tests; and 

8 (B) the commitment of the United States 

9 to the peaceful and safe use of outer space; 

10 (2) recognizes Canada, New Zealand, Germany, 

11 Japan, the United Kingdom, South Korea, Switzer12 land, Australia, and France for following the United 

13 States in pledging to not conduct destructive direct14 assent anti-satellite missile tests; and 

15 (3) calls on other nations, particularly nations 

16 with significant assets in space and that have pre17 viously tested destructive direct-ascent anti-satellite 

18 missiles and nations that recognize the indispensable 


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•SRES 864 IS 

1 benefits provided by space capabilities, to join the 

2 United States in adopting a voluntary moratorium 

3 on the destructive testing of direct-ascent anti-sat4 ellite missile systems. 

Æ 


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