“Dangerous and irresponsible.” The US military reported, Monday, November 15, of a “event that generated debris” in the space. Washington accuses Russia of being the source of an anti-satellite missile, threatening the safety of astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The incident has already caused “more than 1,500 traceable orbital debris”, according toth head of American diplomacy Antony Blinken, “and will probably generate hundreds of thousands of smaller pieces of orbital debris”. Franceinfo takes stock of what we know about this incident, which is reviving fears of seeing space turn into a battlefield between the great powers.
An emergency protocol has been triggered on board the ISS
The passage of debris forced the seven astronauts currently on board the International Space Station to prepare for a possible emergency evacuation. During the second and third passages of debris, Monday, between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. (French time), the astronauts took refuge in their vessels, moored at the station, NASA said in a statement. (in English)
According to the specialized media Spaceflight Now (in English), NASA astronauts Raja Chari, Kayla Barron and Tom Marshburn, as well as European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Matthias Maurer, took refuge aboard the spacecraft Dragon from SpaceX. These four astronauts are from the Crew-3 mission, who arrived aboard the ISS on Thursday. The American astronaut Mark Vande Hei and the two Russian cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and Pyotr Dubrov, themselves, went in the spacecraft. Soyuz.
Many hatches were also closed between different modules, as a precaution. “Friends, everything is in order with us. We continue the work according to our schedule”, finally reassured (in Russian) Anton Shkaplerov, Monday afternoon.
The Pentagon is investigating this debris
Washington quickly pointed out the responsibility of Moscow in this event. “Russia irresponsibly conducted a destructive direct-ascension anti-satellite missile test against one of its own satellites.”, said Monday the chief of the American diplomacy, Antony Blinken. “The debris created by this dangerous and irresponsible test will now threaten satellites and other space objects vital to the security, economy and scientific interests of other nations for decades to come.”, he accused.
The Pentagon claimed to work “actively to characterize the debris field”. This involves in particular identifying the trajectory of each of the objects, in order to identify potential collision threats. “We are looking closely at the kind of means that Russia seems to want to develop”Pentagon spokesman John Kirby added.
For his part, the boss of NASA said to himself “scandalized by this irresponsible and destabilizing action“It is unthinkable that Russia would endanger not only American astronauts and international partners in the ISS, but also its own cosmonauts.”said Bill Nelson.
Debris generated by the dangerous Russian ASAT test caused ISS astronauts and cosmonauts to undertake emergency procedures for safety.
It’s unthinkable that Russia would endanger not only intl partner astronauts on the ISS but also their own cosmonauts. https://t.co/8VKJxon9mW
– Bill Nelson (@SenBillNelson) November 15, 2021
Moscow rejects US accusations
Moscow ruled on Tuesday unfounded and “hypocrites” the American accusations. “To say that the Russian Federation creates risks for the civilian exploitation of space is hypocritical to say the least. There is no such fact.”, said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
Earlier, the Russian space agency, Roscosmos, assured that “crew safety” of the ISS was his “main priority”, without mentioning a missile test or express themselves on the origin of the incident. “Only joint efforts of all space powers can ensure as secure a coexistence as possible and operations in space.”, Roscosmos added in a statement (in Russian).
The space agency had said the day before that the astronauts aboard the ISS were out of danger. “The object’s orbit, which forced the crew today to travel to the spacecraft using standard procedures, has moved away from the orbit of the ISS.”, Roscosmos tweeted.
Tea @Space_Station crew is routinely performing operations according to the flight program.
The orbit of the object, which forced the crew today to move into spacecraft according to standard procedures, has moved away from the ISS orbit.
The station is in the green zone. pic.twitter.com/MVHVACSpmT
– РОСКОСМОС (@roscosmos) November 15, 2021
Anti-satellite shots criticized for their dangerousness
If Russia has not yet confirmed having carried out an anti-satellite fire, it remains thatyour practice is much criticized because of the many debris generated, which become dangerous projectiles. They can thus strike the thousands of other satellites in orbit, on which countries rely for a great many activities, for example communication or localization.
However, these incidents are infrequent. Only the United States, China, India and Russia have already carried out anti-satellite attacks. “Debris events caused by anti-satellite tests do not happen often, the last was an Indian test” in March 2019, recalled astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell, interviewed by AFP. Many experts are calling for greater regulation in the face of these risks. “We call on all responsible space nations to join us in our efforts to develop standards of responsible behavior.”, for his part supported Antony Blinken.
Even if the projectiles from the shots antisatellites are rare, the‘ISS must regularly adjust your orbit to dodge various space debris resulting from the increasing pollution of the surroundings of the Earth. During the year 2020, the International Space Station had to maneuver three times to avoid a possible collision with debris.