This may include advertisements from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. A direct-ascent anti-satellite missile ASAT launched from Plesetsk in northwest Russia between late November 14 or early November 15 destroyed Cosmos 1408, according to NASA. The satellite had been in orbit for nearly 40 years before it was dismantled and divided into thousands of floating pieces of debris.
The international community denounced the Russian operation, because of the fact that all debris is particularly dangerous and resistant to time. A similar test by China in 2007 created debris that is still a hazard for the satellites and the International Space Station. Ned Price, State Department spokesman, said in a statement: "The Russian Federation recklessly conducted a destructive satellite test of a direct-ascent antisatellite missile against one of its own satellites. The test has so far generated over 1,500 pieces of trackable orbital debris and hundreds of thousands of pieces of smaller orbital debris that threaten the interests of all nations. Russia s iresponsible behaviour jeopardizes the long-term sustainability of outer space and clearly shows that Russia's claims to oppose the weaponization of space are disingenuous and hypocritical. The destruction forced the seven people on the ISS to stay in their Crew Dragon and Soyuz vehicles because of a debris cloud for two hours. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said it was unthinkable that Russia would endanger not only the American and international partners on the ISS but also their own cosmonauts because of its long and storied history in human spaceflight. British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace shared his outrage: Russia's anti-satellite missile test shows a complete disregard for the security, safety and sustainability of space. READ MORE: EU warning: Merkel blasts hybrid attack to destabilise the bloc.
The debris resulting from this test will remain in orbit putting satellites and human spaceflight at risk for years to come. Juliana Suess, from the defence and security think tank The Royal United Services Institute RUSI She wrote that Russia may be calculating that space will play an increasing role, or possibly become a host to the conflict itself, because Russia invested funds into destroying its own satellite for one ASAT test. With Russia's extensive history of spaceflight and manned missions, the decision to launch the test would have included calculations over space debris and the risk it would cause to international and Russian crew members in orbit at the time.