The United States denounced Russia on Monday for conducting a “dangerous and irresponsible” missile strike that blew up one of its own satellites, creating a debris cloud that forced the International Space Station’s crew to take evasive action.
Washington wasn’t informed in advance about the test, only the fourth ever to hit a spacecraft from the ground, and will talk to allies about how to respond, said officials.
The move reignites concerns about the growing space arms race, encompassing everything from the development of satellites capable of shunting others out of orbit to laser weapons.
“The Russian Federation recklessly conducted a destructive test of a direct-ascent anti-satellite missile against one of its own satellites,” said Secretary of State Anthony Blinken in a statement.
He added that the “dangerous and irresponsible test” had generated over 1,500 pieces of trackable orbital debris and will likely create hundreds of thousands of pieces of smaller orbital debris.
The crew aboard the orbital outpost — currently four Americans, a German and two Russians — were awakened and first asked to close the station’s hatches, then take shelter in their return ships, the standard “safe haven” alarm procedure in the event of an emergency that might force evacuation.
They made their way to the Dragon and Soyuz spacecraft at 2:00 am Eastern Time (0700 GMT), and remained there for about two hours, NASA said. The ISS continues to pass near or through the cloud every 90 minutes.
In his strongly-worded remarks, Blinken said the danger was far from over, and the debris would continue to threaten satellites and activities on the ISS. The United States was discussing its response with partners, he added.
