NASA says the space debris released by India’s destruction of one of its own satellites threatens the International Space Station. NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine called the action unacceptable and a “terrible, terrible thing.”
India destroyed the satellite intentionally last week in a test of anti-satellite technology it has developed. NASA said the satellite shattered into thousands of pieces, many large enough to damage the ISS, but not large enough to track.
G. Satheesh Reddy, the chief of India’s Defense Research and Development Organization, said a low-altitude military satellite was targeted with the goal of reducing the risk of debris. “That’s why we did it at lower altitude—it will vanish in no time,” Reddy told Reuters. “The debris is moving right now. How much debris, we are trying to work out, but our calculations are it should be dying down within 45 days.”
NASA wasn’t buying it, however. It said it tracked debris above the ISS orbit. A software company called Analytical Graphics modeled the debris from the test and found 6500 fragments larger than half a centimeter. Given the increasing amount of junk in space and the high speeds involved, spacecraft and the ISS are under growing threat from debris damage.
