The United States accused Russia on Monday (November 15th) of firing a "
dangerous and irresponsible
"
anti-satellite missile
in a show of force that directly threatened the safety of astronauts aboard the International Space Station.
"
Earlier today, Russia irresponsibly conducted a destructive direct-ascension anti-satellite missile test against one of its own satellites,
" State Department spokesman Ned Price said. American.
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This incident rekindles fears that space will turn into a battleground between the great powers.
According to Ned Price, this action "
generated more than 1,500 traceable orbital debris, and hundreds of thousands of smaller pieces of orbital debris which now threaten the interests of all nations
."
The astronauts had to take refuge
On Monday morning, the seven people currently on board the ISS - four American astronauts, a German and two Russian cosmonauts - had to take refuge in their ships docked at the station in order to prepare for a possible emergency evacuation.
According to the specialized media Spaceflight Now, they had all returned to the interior of the ISS by midday Monday, but many hatches remained closed between the various modules as a precaution.
"
This test will significantly increase the risk posed to astronauts and cosmonauts on the International Space Station,
" said Ned Price.
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Earlier, the Russian space agency Roscosmos had declared the astronauts aboard the ISS out of danger, without mentioning a missile test. "
The object's orbit, which forced the crew today to travel to the spacecraft using standard procedures, has moved away from the orbit of the ISS,
" Roscosmos tweeted. “
Friends, everything is in order with us. We are continuing the work according to our program,
”Russian cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov also said on Twitter. Contacted, NASA did not immediately respond to AFP's requests.
The Pentagon said it is working "
actively to characterize the debris field
."
This involves in particular identifying the trajectory of each of the objects.
"
We are looking closely at the type of means that Russia seems to want to develop,
" added John Kirby, the Pentagon spokesman, adding that Moscow had not warned Washington in advance.
"
Inexcusable
"
Anti-satellite fire has already been carried out by only four nations (United States, China, India and Russia).
But they are highly criticized, in particular because of the large amount of debris generated, which then becomes dangerous projectiles.
They may subsequently strike the many other satellites in orbit, on which countries rely for a large number of activities, for example communication or even localization.
Being able to destroy satellites from other countries can therefore prove to be a strategic military asset.
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"
Debris events caused by anti-satellite tests do not happen often, the last was an Indian test
" in March 2019, recalled astronomer Jonathan McDowell interviewed by AFP. According to him, by deducing the trajectories of the ISS and nearby objects, the satellite targeted by Russia could be a satellite named Cosmos 1408, which has not been active since the 1980s. “
Destroying it was absolutely not necessary
”, judged the specialist. “
This is purely a military test.
"
We already have too much debris up there to deliberately generate more, it's inexcusable,
" he added.
According to him, some debris caused by this test will disintegrate on entering the atmosphere "
in the coming months
", but others could remain in orbit for up to ten years.
Many experts are calling for greater regulation of the sector in the face of these risks.
"
We have been very clear, we would like to see space standards so that it is used responsibly by all space powers,
" the Pentagon spokesman said Monday.