(Washington) The United States on Monday accused Russia of firing a “dangerous and irresponsible” anti-satellite missile in a show of force that directly threatened the safety of astronauts aboard the International Space Station .
This incident reignites fears that space will turn into a battleground between the great powers.
On Monday, “Russia irresponsibly conducted a destructive direct-ascension anti-satellite missile test against one of its own satellites,” US Foreign Minister Antony Blinken said in a statement.
“This test has so far generated over 1,500 traceable orbital debris, and will likely generate hundreds of thousands of smaller pieces of orbital debris,” he added.
The Space Station passes “through or near the cloud (of debris, editor’s note) every 90 minutes,” NASA said in a statement.
During the second and third passages – between about 2 a.m. EST and 4 a.m. – the seven people currently on board the ISS took refuge in their ships, moored at the station, in order to prepare for possible emergency evacuation.
They are four American astronauts, one German and two Russian cosmonauts. This measure was taken specifically during these passages on the basis of a risk assessment by NASA.
“I am scandalized by this irresponsible and destabilizing action,” the head of the US space agency, Bill Nelson, said in a statement. “It is unthinkable that Russia would endanger not only American astronauts and international partners in the ISS, but also its own cosmonauts. ”
Many hatches currently remain closed between different modules as a precaution (but not between the Russian and US segment).
Threats for “decades”
“The debris created by this dangerous and irresponsible test will now threaten for decades to come satellites and other space objects vital to the security, economy, and scientific interests of other nations,” blinken accused.
He pledged that the United States would “work with (their) allies and partners to seek to respond to this irresponsible act.”
Earlier today, the Russian space agency Roscosmos had declared the astronauts aboard the ISS out of danger, without mentioning a missile test.
“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.
“Friends, everything is in order with us. We are continuing the work according to our program, ”Russian cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov also said on Twitter.
The Pentagon said it is working “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 type of means that Russia seems to want to develop,” added John Kirby, the Pentagon spokesman, adding that Moscow had not warned Washington in advance.
“Inexcusable”
Anti-satellite fire has already been carried out by only four nations (United States, China, India and Russia). They are highly criticized because of the large amount of debris generated, which becomes dangerous projectiles.
They can then strike the thousands of other satellites in orbit, on which countries rely for a great many activities, for example communication or even localization.
Being able to destroy satellites from other countries can therefore prove to be a strategic military asset.
“Debris events caused by anti-satellite tests do not happen often, the last was an Indian test” in March 2019, recalled astronomer Jonathan McDowell interviewed by AFP.
According to him, by deducing the trajectories of the ISS and known objects, the satellite targeted by Russia could be a satellite named Cosmos 1408, which has not been active since the 1980s.
“Destroying it was absolutely not necessary”, judged the specialist. “This is purely a military test. ”
“We already have too much debris up there to deliberately generate more, it’s inexcusable,” he added.
According to him, some debris caused by this test will disintegrate on entering the atmosphere “in the coming months”, but others could remain in orbit for up to ten years.
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,” Antony Blinken said Monday.