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Russia said on Tuesday it had conducted a weapons test that targeted an old Russian satellite with “razor-sharp precision” and denied allegations by the United States, France and NATO that the test had been dangerous for orbiting spacecraft.
US officials said Monday’s test had generated a debris field in low-Earth orbit that endangered the International Space Station (ISS) and that would pose a hazard to space activities for years.
The four Americans, one German and two Russians on board the ISS were forced to briefly seek shelter in their docked capsules because of debris released by the explosion.
At least 1,500 pieces of the destroyed satellite were sizeable enough to show up on radar and with telescopes, said the US State Department. Countless other fragments were too small to track, yet still posed a danger to the space station as well as orbiting satellites.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the test was reckless, posed a threat to the ISS and an orbiting Chinese spacecraft, and showed Russia was developing new weapons systems.
In a joint statement, France’s defence and foreign ministries said the test was “destabilising, irresponsible and likely to have consequences for a very long time in the space environment and for all actors in space.”
In an earlier tweet, French Defence Minister Florence Parly lashed out at “space vandals” who “generat[e] debris that pollutes and puts our astronauts and satellites in danger.”
L’Espace est un bien commun, celui des 7,7 milliards d’habitants de notre planète. Les saccageurs de l’Espace ont une responsabilité accablante en générant des débris qui polluent et mettent nos astronautes et satellites en danger.
— Florence Parly (@florence_parly) November 16, 2021
Source : france24
