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The cause of the incident, which added to a growing amount of hazardous debris in low-Earth orbit, is still unknown.
By Katrina Miller
A decommissioned Russian satellite fractured on Wednesday, creating a cloud of debris in low-Earth orbit that prompted astronauts aboard the International Space Station to take protective measures.
The satellite, which orbits about 220 miles above Earth, broke into more than 100 fragments, according to a Thursday announcement from the U. S. Space Command, a Defense Department firm that runs military operations in space. “There was no immediate threat” and that testing of the scenario was ongoing.
Known as Resurs P1, the satellite introduced in Russia in 2013 to explore the Earth and take pictures of space to help with agriculture, meteorology, transportation, and other purposes. Russia removed the Resurs P1 in 2022. Since then, the satellite has been slowly losing altitude.
Roscosmos, the Russian space company and former operator of the missing satellite, responded to a request for comment.
The destruction of P1 Resurs has added to a growing amount of space junk, including dead satellites, lost tool bags, and much more, around Earth. NASA estimates that more than 25,000 pieces of debris larger than 4 inches wide are currently in orbit, and that number rises to more than a hundred million when much smaller elements are counted. Experts see the accumulation of debris in the area as a threat to the area’s long-term operations, and plans are being developed to remove larger objects from orbit.
The fragmentation of the Resurs P1 satellite detected and announced on Wednesday through LeoLabs, an organization that monitors the protection of satellites orbiting the Earth, but the explanation for why this occasion occurred is still unknown.
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