Tuesday, January 4, 2022

Debris From Russia’s Nov. 15 Anti-Satellite Weapon Test Will Continue To Threaten US Military Weather And Spy Satellites For The Next Several Years

Path of the debris from Russia’s Nov. 15 ASAT missile test over the first 24 hours after impact with the Soviet-era Cosmos 1408 satellite, according to COMSPOC. (COMSPOC/CSSI volumetric analysis, with rendering by AGI, an Ansys Company)  

Breaking Defense: Russian ASAT debris imperils DoD, NRO sats, while ISS risks increase: COMSPOC  

The COMSPOC analysis shows that the bulk of the some 1,500 debris pieces being tracked by Space Command's 18th Space Control Squadron will de-orbit within about three years time.  

WASHINGTON: Significant amounts of debris from Russia’s Nov. 15 anti-satellite weapon test will continue to threaten US military weather and spy satellites, as well as the International Space Station over the next several years, according to a detailed analysis by commercial space tracking firm COMSPOC. 

The satellite most imperiled in the first 24 hours after the A-235/P-19 Nudol ASAT system’s interceptor smashed into Russia’s Cosmos 1408 bird was one of America’s four remaining Defense Meteorological Satellite Program weather sats, DMSP 5D-3 F18 (USA 210). 

Two other DMSP birds — DMSP 5D-3 F16 (USA 172) and DMSP 5D-15 (USA 147) — were also among the top 50 at-risk satellites in the immediate wake of the ASAT test, according to COMSPOC’s analysis.  

Read more ....  

WNU Editor: On a positive note. This debris will eventually come back to earth in a few years.

5 comments:

RussInSoCal said...

Russia explodes an ASAT bomb that threatens US military, weather and spy satellites for several years.

/What a coinkidink!

Jac said...

What happen if a Russian debris destroy an US military satellite? This is a really act of war. Does the US has the international right of retaliation?

Adam said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Adam said...

Good to hear it will de-orbit in a relatively short time, still a concern. Also a bit interesting, the US had a similar capability as far back as the 1980's.

Anonymous said...

This is a business opportunity!