US: Russia Tested Anti-Satellite Weapon and Nearly Disabled ISS

Russia shot down one of its old satellites.

Official spokesperson of the US State Department Ned Price said that Russia conducted tests of an anti-satellite weapon, after which debris appeared in Earth's orbit that posed a threat to the International Space Station. This is reported by “BBC Ukrainian”. 

According to him, Russia used an anti-satellite missile to shoot down one of its old satellites. As a result, 1,500 pieces of space debris appeared, whose movement can be tracked, along with hundreds of thousands of smaller fragments that “now threaten the interests of all peoples.” 

Ned Price
official spokesperson of the US State Department

Russia's dangerous and irresponsible behavior threatens the long-term stability of space and clearly demonstrates that Russian statements against the militarization of space are insincere and hypocritical. 

Russia has not yet commented on Washington's statements, but on November 15 the Russian space agency Roscosmos reported, citing data from the American mission control center, that the ISS was threatened by a collision with space debris. 

Because of this, the station's crew had to take shelter in the Soyuz and Crew Dragon spacecraft in case they needed to evacuate urgently. Later, Roscosmos said the threat of collision had passed. 

“The crew of the International Space Station is currently carrying out work in accordance with the flight program as normal. The orbit of the object, due to which the crew was today forced to move into spacecraft in line with standard procedures, has moved away from the ISS orbit, and the station is in the green zone,” the statement said. 

The ISS orbits at an altitude of about 420 km above Earth. The American company Seradata, which tracks the movement of objects in space, reported that as a result of the anti-satellite weapon launch, the old Soviet satellite Kosmos-1408 was destroyed. It was a Tselina-class spacecraft designed for radio-technical intelligence. 

According to the American company, the satellite was launched in 1982. It had not worked for several decades: “After the impact, an explosion probably occurred, which led to the formation of a ‘debris cloud’ that triggered the activation of safety protocols on the ISS.” 

Soon after, the US Space Command confirmed that Russia had shot down the Kosmos-1408 satellite. 

Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby told reporters about the Russian anti-satellite tests and said that Moscow did not warn Washington in advance: “We are closely monitoring the capabilities that Russia is likely trying to develop. They could threaten not only the interests of our national security, but also the safety of other space-faring nations.” 

According to him, the US has long proposed developing international norms for the safe use of space. It is worth noting that these tests were not the first such case. 

In summer 2020, the US and Britain stated that Russia had conducted anti-satellite weapon tests. In July 2020, after the Russian inspector satellite Kosmos-2543 entered orbit, a small object separated from it in the direction of another Russian satellite.

The US Space Command calls it a “projectile,” but Russia claims it was a “small spacecraft” that was checking the operation of another satellite in orbit. 

This incident is linked in the US with another one that occurred in 2017. Then, according to the Pentagon, Russian spacecraft performed maneuvers near an American satellite. The US believes that in both cases Russia was testing anti-satellite weapons, and that this demonstrates Russia's true intentions regarding the “non-placement of weapons” in space.