Russia admitted on Tuesday to having pulverized one of its satellites in orbit with a test missile, while deeming “hypocritical” statements from Washington, which accuses it of endangering the crew of the International Space Station (ISS).
Moscow on Monday fired from Earth at an old Soviet satellite in a test that Washington said generated a potentially dangerous “cloud” of debris for the orbital station and a host of satellites.
The seven occupants – four Americans, two Russians and one German – of the ISS had to take refuge for a while in their ships moored at the station to allow, if necessary, their evacuation, the incident highlighting the risks of a militarization of the cosmos.
After a day of silence, the Russian Defense Ministry finally admitted on Tuesday that it had carried out “successfully” this firing targeting a satellite. Tselina-D, inactive and in orbit since 1982, without specifying the weapon used.
He also denounced Washington’s “hypocritical” accusations of the danger posed by the debris. “The United States knows full well that these fragments […] will not present any threat, ”he said in a statement.
This test shot was carried out “in strict accordance with international law and was not directed against anyone,” added the Russian Foreign Ministry.
The day before, the boss of NASA, Bill Nelson, however, said he was “scandalized” by a “destabilizing” action also posing risks to the Chinese station.
According to the chief of the American diplomacy, Antony Blinken, the field of debris created by the Russian shooting will threaten the space activities “for decades”.
“Space raiders have an overwhelming responsibility by generating debris which pollutes and puts our astronauts and satellites in danger”, reacted the French Minister of the Armed Forces, Florence Parly.
Militarization of space
The German government has deemed “urgent” measures to “strengthen security and confidence”.
The incident has revived fears that space will turn into a battleground between great powers, eager to experiment with new military technologies.
Test firing against satellites had so far only been carried out by three nations – the United States, China, India -, Moscow having constantly ensured that it was fighting against any attempt to militarize space.
The head of Russian diplomacy, Sergei Lavrov, accused the Americans on Tuesday of ignoring “the proposals of Russia and China for an international agreement to prevent an arms race in space”.
“In 2020, they created a space command and adopted a strategy one of the goals of which is to establish military domination in the cosmos,” he said, accusing the Pentagon of preparing to put systems into orbit. anti-missiles.
” Let’s move on to something else “
Amid these tensions, the Russian space agency [Roscosmos] said Tuesday still cherish the hope of “common efforts of all space powers” to “ensure as safe coexistence as possible” in space.
The boss of Roscosmos, Dmitri Rogozin, announced in the evening that he had spoken on the phone with Bill Nelson. “We move on, we ensure the safety of our crews at the ISS and do common projects,” he summed up on Twitter.