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A field of debris hurtled at 17,000 miles per hour through the part of space where a Russian satellite once resided. The US State Department claimed that the debris came from a Russian anti-satellite missile test. The crew of the International Space Station were forced to take shelter in the least vulnerable parts of their craft after the fragments flew dangerously close to the station.
The situation could have been similar to the scene in the movieGravity, in which an astronauts flees the space station as it is destroyed by a large amount of debris. The real shower of bombs missed the space station, but it continued to make close passes. Some of it will stay in space for a long time. Russian officials claim the weapons test isn't a hazard for space activity.
US officials think differently. The debris created by Russia's anti-satellite test will pose a threat to activities in outer space for years to come, as well as forcing more collision avoidance maneuvers, stated General James Dickinson, head of the US. This kind of behavior is simply irresponsible and it underpins our way of life.
The Pentagon tracks over 25,000 pieces of debris in the sky, which include everything from dead satellites and used rocket boosters to the debris left behind from missile tests like this one, which have previously been conducted by China, the US, and India. A piece of debris from a Chinese anti-satellite test narrowly missed the International Space Station one week ago. Millions of untrackable fragments of trash smaller than 10 centimeters are added to the risks. The US government and international institutions are trying to find ways to address the growing halo of space junk that is no longer usable because it is so polluted.
NASA and the United Nations have prioritised managing worsening space traffic and avoiding making more junk. Their efforts are mostly focused on prevention and not dealing with what is already out there. The Space Force will begin recruiting the private sector to develop proposals for actually removing debris via a new program called Orbital Prime. SpaceWERX will award dozens of contracts worth $250,000 each, starting early next year, to companies that can whisk trash out of harm's way, as well as to perform other duties, like repairing satellites.
