Outer space

Top US military officer responsible for space warns of an urgent danger: Junk

As the Pentagon works to create President Donald Trump’s proposed Space Force, America’s top military officer responsible for defending the U.S. from extraterrestrial threats warned lawmakers Thursday of an urgent danger: space junk.

“I’ve advocated for a long time for the development of some kind of international norms and behaviors in space,” U.S. Air Force Gen. John Hyten told members of the Senate Armed Services committee during a hearing on establishing a Space Force.

“And where those norms and behaviors should begin in my opinion is with debris. As the combatant commander responsible for space today, I don’t want more debris,” he said.

Hyten — who testified alongside acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan; Marine Corps Gen. Joe Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson — said debris would limit future generations from accessing space.