India, however, played down risk of debris from the ASAT conducted by the country on Wednesday. India and the US have been in talks regarding the event, and India publicly issued an aircraft safety advisory before the launch

NEW DELHI: The United States has said that it is studying the outcome of India’s anti-satellite missile test (ASAT) and warned other nations against carrying out such tests which it said ran the risk of creating “mess” in space because of debris fields they can leave behind. 

“My message would be: We all live in space, let’s not make it a mess,” acting US Defence Secretary Patrick Shanahan told media persons during a visit to the US military’s Southern Command on Wednesday. “Space should be a place where we can conduct business. Space is a place where people should have the freedom to operate.”

India, however, played down risk of debris from the ASAT conducted by the country on Wednesday, with the external affairs ministry saying the impact occurred in low-earth orbit and that the remnants would “decay and fall back on to the earth within weeks”.

Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Dave Eastburn said the US military’s Strategic Command was tracking more than 250 pieces of debris from India’s missile test and would issue “close-approach notifications as required until the debris enters the earth’s atmosphere”.

India and the US have been in talks regarding the event, and India publicly issued an aircraft safety advisory before the launch, said Eastburn. India had also briefed Russia about the test, according to people aware of the matter. Later France, which has decades-old ties with India in civilian space sector, was also briefed on the test. It is understood that UK and France were also briefed by the government on the issue.

Lieutenant General David Thompson, vice commander of US Air Force Space Command, said the International Space Station was not at risk at this point.

NASA chief Jim Bridenstine said in testimony before the House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday that the consequences of ASAT could be long-lasting. “If we wreck space, we’re not getting it back,” he said, without mentioning India by name.

India is the fourth country to have used such an anti-satellite weapon after the US, Russia and China. The US ran the first anti-satellite test in 1959.

Shanahan said that given the increasing global reliance on space, it was important to create rules of the road for space. “I think not having rules of engagement is worrisome. So, how people test and develop technologies is important,” he said. “I would expect anyone who tests does not put at risk anyone else’s assets.”

India wants to be part of rules creation for outer space. “Deterrence apart, the true import of the test is that in any future international space architecture India cannot and will not be ignored,” said Tilak Devasher, a member of India’s National Security Advisory Board. “When the international nuclear architecture created by the NPT (Non-Proliferation Treaty) was framed, India was excluded since it had not tested a nuclear weapon. The anti-satellite test of March 27 will ensure that India will be a major stakeholder in any future space agreements.