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- Russian satellite breaks up in 100 pieces of debris in space
Russian satellite breaks up in 100 pieces of debris in space
Astronauts on the International Space Station were forced to take shelter for about an hour
A defunct RESURS-P1 Russian Earth observation satellite has broken up into more than 100 pieces of debris in orbit, forcing astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) to take shelter for about an hour and adding to the mass of space junk already in orbit, U.S. space agencies said.
According to the U.S. Space Command, tracking the debris swarm, there was no immediate threat to other satellites.
The incident took place on Wednesday in an orbit near the space station, forcing U.S. astronauts on board to shelter in their spacecraft for roughly an hour, said NASA's Space Station office. According to the U.S. Space Command, which has its own global network of space-tracking radars, the satellite immediately created "over 100 pieces of trackable debris."
Large debris-generating events in orbit are "rare but of increasing concern as space becomes crowded with satellite networks vital to everyday life on Earth, from broadband internet and communications to basic navigation services, as well as satellites no longer in use," noted Reuters.
Back in 2021, Russia faced strong criticism from the U.S. and other Western countries when it struck one of its defunct satellites in orbit with a ground-based anti-satellite (ASAT) missile launched from its Plesetsk rocket site. The blast, an apparent testing a weapon system ahead of Moscow's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, is said to have created thousands of pieces of orbital debris.