Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Del.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a candidate for President, isn’t concerned about China’s Jan. 11 anti-satellite weapons test, in which it destroyed an old satellite with a missile. Associated Press news service reports that Biden said, “We have ways to deal with that ability.” On the other hand, Robert Joseph, undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, calls the event a “wake-up call,” reports the New York Times. The Administration still awaits a formal diplomatic response from China about the test.
While the U.S. and its allies up their efforts to build out multi-orbit, multi-constellation satellite communications that are harder for an enemy to disrupt, officials noted technical and cost challenges, particularly for the user in the field.