Russian weapons test resulted in debris now threatening space station, U.S. says

A space missile fired byRussia into one of its own satellites in a weapons test onMonday generated an orbital debris field that endangered theInternational Space Station and will pose an ongoing hazard "foryears to come," U.S. officials said.

The seven-member space station crew four U.S. astronauts,a German astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts were directed totake shelter in their docked spaceship capsules for two hoursafter the test as a precaution, allowing for a quick getaway hadit been necessary, NASA said.

The research lab, orbiting about 402 kilometresaboveEarth, continued to pass through or near the debris clusterevery 90 minutes, but NASA specialists determined it was safefor the crew to return to the station's interior after the thirdpass, the agency said.

The crew was also ordered to seal off hatches to severalmodules of the space station for the time being, according toNASA.

WATCH | ISS astronauts forced to seek shelter:

ISS astronauts forced to seek shelter in docked capsules

3 years ago

Duration 1:55

German astronaut Matthias Maurer was told to move his sleeping bag from the International Space Station's European lab to a safer location Monday as orbiting fields of space junk disrupted the work of the seven crew members and forced them to seek shelter in their docked capsules.

"NASA will continue monitoring the debris in the coming daysand beyond to ensure the safety of our crew in orbit," NASAchief Bill Nelson said in a statement.

Experts say the testing of weapons that shatter satellitesin orbit poses a hazard by creating clouds of fragmentsthat can collide with other objects, setting off a chainreaction of projectiles through Earth orbit.

Thousands of fragments

The Russian military and ministry of defence were notimmediately available for comment.

The direct-ascent anti-satellite missile fired by Russiagenerated more than 1,500 pieces of "trackable orbital debris"and would likely spawn hundreds of thousands of smallerfragments, the U.S. Space Command said in a statement.

"Russia has demonstrated a deliberate disregard for thesecurity, safety, stability and long-term sustainability of thespace domain for all nations," space command chief U.S. armyGen.James Dickinson said.

The debris from the missile test "will continue to pose athreat to activities in outer space for years to come, puttingsatellites and space missions at risk, as well as forcing morecollision avoidance manoeuvres," he said.

WATCH | How astronauts coped with the emergency:

Astronauts bond as orbiting space junk threatens International Space Station

3 years ago

Duration 1:07

NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei thanked mission control for helping those aboard the International Space Station handle orbiting debris fields of space junk, calling it a great way for the crew to come together. Four of the seven crew members arrived at the orbiting outpost Thursday night.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken condemned the missiletest as "reckless and irresponsible." At the Pentagon, spokesmanJohn Kirby said the test showed the need to firmly establishnorms of behaviour in space.

"It is unthinkable that Russia would endanger not only theAmerican and international partner astronauts on the ISS, butalso their own cosmonauts," Nelson said.

The incident came just four days after the latest group offour space station astronauts Americans Raja Chari, TomMarshburn and Kayla Barron of NASA and European Space Agencycrewmate Matthias Maurer of Germanyarrived at the orbitingoutpost to begin a six-month science mission.

They were welcomed by three space station crew membersalready on board Russian cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and PyotrDubrov, and U.S. astronaut Mark Vande Hei.

Russia is not the first country to conduct anti-satellitetests in space. The United States performed the first in 1959,when satellites were rare and new.

Last April Russia carried out another test of ananti-satellite missile as officials have said that space willincreasingly become an important domain for warfare.

In 2019, India shot down one of its own satellites inlow-Earth orbit with a ground-to-space missile.

The U.S. military is increasingly dependent on satellites todetermine what it does on the ground, guiding munitions withspace-based lasers and satellites, as well as using such assetsto monitor for missile launches and track its forces.

These tests have also raised questions about the long-termsustainability of space operations essential to a huge range ofcommercial activities, including banking and GPS services.