The Boeing Starliner spacecraft docked with the International Space Station’s (ISS) forward port, on 6 June 2024. (Satellite image © 2024 Maxar Technologies / AFP)
- Russian satellite RESURS-P1, abandoned in orbit in 2022, broke into more than 100 pieces big enough to be seen on radar.
- The cause is unknown.
- The resulting orbital debris cloud saw astronauts aboard the International Space Station take shelter.
A Russian satellite broke up into more than 100 pieces of debris in orbit overnight, forcing astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) to take shelter, US space agencies said.
There were no immediate details on what caused the break-up of the RESURS-P1 Russian Earth observation satellite, which was decommissioned in 2022.
The event occurred in an orbit near the International Space Station, prompting US astronauts on board to shelter in their spacecraft for roughly an hour, NASA’s Space Station office said.
US radar detected the satellite releasing a cloud of debris in low-Earth orbit Wednesday night and early Thursday morning, space-tracking firm LeoLabs said.
US Space Command said the satellite immediately created “over 100 pieces of trackable debris.”
“USSPACECOM has observed no immediate threats and is continuing to conduct routine conjunction assessments to support the safety and sustainability of the space domain,” Space Command added in its statement on Thursday.
If a debris strike on the ISS seems possible, standard protocol is to seal off sections of the station, to prevent additional damage if one section is holed, and to shelter in attached spacecraft ready for emergency departure.
Potentially dangerous debris is carefully monitored, but new explosions in orbit can throw out a cloud that must first be tracked for a time before orbits can be predicted.
One such incident was when Russia tested an anti-satellite weapon against one of its other defunct military satellites.
– Additional reporting by News24
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