Theresa Hitchens has been Director of UNIDIR since January 2009. Previously, she was Director of the US Center for Defense Information and led its Space Security Project, in cooperation with Secure World Foundation. She is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Space Security.Theresa Hitchens has been Director of UNIDIR since January 2009. Previously, she was Director of the US Center for Defense Information and led its Space Security Project, in cooperation with Secure World Foundation. She is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Space Security.


Why is this issue something that worries you?

What warning signs have you seen already?
Three nations have tested anti-satellite weapons in the last three decades: the United States and the Soviet Union in the 1980s, then China in 2007. The latter shocked a lot of people. China sent a kinetic weapon – a solid warhead – slamming into one of its own weather satellites, causing an explosion which created thousands of pieces of debris in one of the most crowded orbits around earth. The worst part was not the demonstration of capability, as pretty much everyone knew China could do something like this, it was the question of why they chose to demonstrate it in the manner in which they did. What’s more, any country that has a medium-range ballistic weapon and a reasonable commercial satellite programme can develop an anti-satellite weapon, and there is no real international agreement on what norms of behaviour are acceptable. I am pretty sure that France, India and Israel all have the capacity.

What about North Korea?


Could other channels of communication not defuse the situation?



On the flip side of risk, what are the opportunities?

Image: A NASA photo taken from the International Space Station shows the Mediterranean Sea, the Nile River and the Sinai Peninsula (Reuters)