The Russian Defense Ministry later confirmed there had been what it called a "successful test" that destroyed a defunct satellite - a Soviet-era military radio-surveillance satellite called Tselina that was put into orbit in 1987. secretary of state, Antony Blinken, who called the test "reckless" and said the debris "risks astronauts' lives, the integrity of the International Space Station, and the interests of all nations."Ī Soyuz-2 1b rocket booster carrying a Russian Kosmos-2546 military satellite is launched from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome on May 22. "Their actions are reckless and dangerous, threatening as well the Chinese space station and the taikonauts on board." "With its long and storied history in human spaceflight, it is unthinkable that Russia would endanger not only the American and international partner astronauts on the ISS, but also their own cosmonauts," NASA administrator Bill Nelson said in a statement. space agency, however, which has worked closely with Roskosmos for years, was quick, and unconstrained, in its annoyance. Neither statement made any mention of any missile test or debris cloud. Russia's space agency, Roskosmos, issued the first of two statements on November 15, several hours after the reported incident, saying that the ISS had been forced to shift its orbit but was now operating normally in a "green zone."Ī second statement, on November 16, mentioned Russia's longtime cooperation in space with other countries: "For us, the main priority has been and remains to ensure the unconditional safety of the crew," the agency said. In Moscow, more than 24 hours after the station's crew was first sent scrambling, there was no immediate response or confirmation that such a test had been conducted, or that a debris cloud had been caused in the first place.
Russian cosmonauts Oleg Novitsky (left) and Pyotr Dubrov, members of the crew to the International Space Station, perform their first spacewalk on June 2. "I would tend to hope they would know what would happen with the debris cloud after such a test." Air Force officer who now heads the Secure World Foundation, a Washington think tank. "This is not the Russians first rodeo with" anti-satellite tests, said Brian Weeden, a former U.S. "There are a lot of things people could disagree on, but there's one thing that everyone agrees on: You should not create debris, especially at a higher altitude, putting astronauts in danger," Podvig told RFE/RL. officials said, something researchers said was likely only the tip of the iceberg. "My take is that this is a very bizarre situation, in the sense that with any reasonable decision-making system, I just don't see how this type of thing would happen," said Pavel Podvig, a Geneva-based researcher and author of a well-regarded blog on Russian military activity.Īs many as 1,500 larger fragments were kicked out from the destroyed satellite, U.S. What resulted was not only a scare for the space station crew, but also unusually angry rhetoric from Washington, which accused Russia of "reckless" and "dangerous" and "irresponsible" behavior. The consensus among a growing number of experts is that the cause of the November 15 incident was a Russian test of a weapon intended to knock out hostile satellites. 'Space Vandals': Russian Missile Test Draws Western Outrage Moscow Denies Threat