Why are the US and Japan pushing to ban nuclear weapons in space?

The US Department of Defense launching a sounding rocket from NASA's launch range at Wallops Flight Facility, carrying hypersonic weapon experiments that will inform the development of the hypersonic class of weapons, on Wallops Island, Virginia, US, October 26, 2022 [FILE: Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters]

The US and Japan on Monday proposed a United Nations Security Council resolution calling on countries not to deploy or develop any kind of nuclear weapons in space.

The draft resolution did not directly name Russia, but the move comes days after a US intelligence assessment said Moscow’s antisatellite weapons posed a threat to US space capabilities. Washington fears space detonations could result in the disruption of US military satellite communications.