Russia slammed as anti-satellite weapons test causes massive space debris

The US yesterday denounced Russia for conducting a “dangerous and irresponsible” missile strike that blew up one of its own satellites.

The Russian defence ministry said it had “successfully conducted a test, as a result of which the Russian spacecraft ‘Tselina-D’, which had been in orbit since 1982, was destroyed.”

Russia’s Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu later said the launch used a “promising” system that “accurately” struck its target.

“The fragments that formed do not pose any threat to space activity,” he added, as quoted by Russian news agencies.

However, the US claims the explosion created a debris cloud that forced the International Space Station’s (ISS) crew to take evasive action.

The crew aboard the space station — currently four Americans, a German and two Russians — had to take shelter in their return ships, the standard “safe haven” alarm procedure in the event of an emergency that might force evacuation.

The station later returned to a “green” alert level, Russian space agency Roscosmos tweeted.

As a result of the explosion, there are at least 1500 new pieces of space “junk” orbiting the planet at high speed. Hundreds of thousands of smaller pieces of orbital debris could be created in the future.

The US Space Command has reported there is a large debris cloud of up to 1000 pieces forming around Cosmos 1408’s area of orbit.

“We are monitoring the situation in real-time and is starting to detect and track the debris field with each pass the debris makes over its radars,” LeoLabs Australia Managing Director and former Air Commodore Terry van Haren said.

“On the last pass over our Costa Rica Space Radar, well north of 100 new objects were detected with altitudes ranging from 440-520km. The objects will pass over our radars 3-4 times per day and with each pass, the number of objects being tracked will likely grow.

“Over the next few weeks we will be able to establish high fidelity tracking on this debris, which will help provide vital space surveillance for secure and safe operations in space.

“If a deliberate act, this would be a very irresponsible action by the Russian Federation. At an altitude of 480km, Cosmos 1408 was located in the middle of the high traffic zone of Low Earth Orbit and its debris field will pose a significant risk to all operators for decades to come, including the International Space Station, which sits at 420km and Starlink at 540km.”

And the debris is dangerously close to the altitude of the famous space station.

The ISS could be threatened every 93 minutes, according to Seradata.

It’s likely the debris will be orbiting the planet for at least 10 years.

It’s only the fourth ever missile to hit a spacecraft from the ground.

US Space Command said Russia had tested a direct-ascent anti-satellite, or DA-ASAT missile.

An official said Washington wasn’t informed about the test in advance.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken slammed Russia.

“We condemn Russia’s reckless test of a direct-ascent anti-satellite missile against its own satellite, creating space debris that risks astronauts’ lives, the integrity of the International Space Station, and the interests of all nations,” he said.

Australia reacts to test

Experts in Australia have blasted Russia for the “irresponsible” test.

“This is the most irresponsible action we have seen in space for some years,” LeoLabs Australia director Terry van Haren said, Cosmos reported.

“It is probably at the worst altitude you could imagine, above the ISS at 420 km and just under where the mega-constellations are setting up [520km for Starlink]. What were they thinking?”

Flinders University ‘space lawyer’ Professor Melissa de Zwart called it “particularly irresponsible” and its effect on the ISS “significant”.

Arms race in space

The move reignites concerns about the growing space arms race, encompassing everything from the development of satellites capable of shunting others out of orbit to laser weapons.

But in his strongly-worded remarks, Secretary Blinken said the danger was far from over.

“The long-lived debris created by this dangerous and irresponsible test will now threaten satellites and other space objects that are vital to all nations’ security, economic, and scientific interests for decades to come,” he said.

“Russia, despite its claims of opposing the weaponisation of outer space, is willing to jeopardise the long-term sustainability of outer space and imperil the exploration and use of outer space.”

The United States was discussing its response with partners, Secretary Blinken added.

US ‘closely watching’ Russian anti-satellite capabilities

In a Pentagon briefing, spokesman John Kirby told reporters the US didn’t receive advance notice, and was closely watching Russian defence capabilities.

The target of the missile was Cosmos 1408, a 1982 Soviet signals intelligence satellite that has been defunct for several decades, according to space industry analysis company Seradata.

Anti-satellite weapons (ASATs) are hi-tech missiles possessed by few nations. India was the last to carry out a test on a target in 2019, creating hundreds of pieces of “space junk” strongly criticised by other powers, including the United States.

US and Chinese tests

The United States shot down a satellite in 2008 in response to China demonstrating a similar knockout in 2007.

Jonathan McDowell, a Harvard astrophysicist, told AFP such tests amounted to “sabre rattling”.

He added: “The feeling among people in the space industry is that we have way too much debris up there already — to deliberately generate more is just inexcusable.”

The first objects from the debris cloud should start to enter the atmosphere within a few months, but it could be up to 10 years before it clears up entirely, he said.

That could jeopardise what is an increasingly crowded region of space known as “low Earth orbit”.

There are currently more than 4500 satellites whizzing around the planet, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists, with companies like SpaceX planning to launch up to tens of thousands more, as the private space industry experiences rapid growth.

New era of space weapons

Russia is increasingly flexing its muscles in space as it seeks to reassert global influence under the leadership of Vladimir Putin.

Last year, London and Washington accused Moscow of testing a “nesting doll” satellite that opened up and released a sub-satellite to stalk an American satellite.

China meanwhile is developing a weapon known as Shijian-17 with a robot arm capable of grappling satellites.

“The threat is real in that both China and Russia are increasingly building space into their military capabilities,” Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said at a space seminar in Washington last week.

“They have, effectively, counter space capabilities that allow them to jam some of our satellites, they have directed-energy weapons that allow them to essentially blind sensors on various satellites,” she added.

Despite these tensions, the United States and Russia have maintained strong space ties since the end of the Cold War, co-operating closely on the ISS, which they built together.

NASA reacts

NASA administrator Bill Nelson said he was “outraged” by the missile test.

“With its long and storied history in human spaceflight, it is unthinkable that Russia would endanger not only the American and international partner astronauts on the ISS, but also their own cosmonauts” as well as taikonauts aboard the Chinese space station, Mr Nelson said in a statement.

– with AFP

Originally published as Russia slammed as anti-satellite weapons test causes massive space debris