“Earlier today, Russia irresponsibly conducted a destructive direct-climb anti-satellite missile test against one of its own satellites,” said State Department spokesman Ned Price, calling Moscow’s behavior “dangerous and irresponsible. “.
According to him, this action has “generated more than 1,500 traceable orbital debris and hundreds of thousands of smaller pieces of orbital debris that now threaten the interests of all nations.”
Without going into whether Washington is examining retaliatory measures, Price said the United States “would make it clear that it will not tolerate this type of activity.”
This missile launch “clearly shows that Russia’s claims that it opposes the militarization of space are false and hypocritical,” he added.
The weapon test antisatellites (ASAT) by Russia marks a rare show of force by Moscow criticized by the space community because of the risk it creates for crews in low Earth orbit.
The United States and Russia have maintained strong spatial ties since the end of the Cold War, despite mounting political tensions in recent years.
The Pentagon spokesman, John Kirby, I declare that “The immediate concern is debris, which is now floating and could become a hazard, even to the International Space Station.”
“We are closely watching the kind of media that Russia seems to want to develop, which could pose a threat not only to our national security interests, but also to the security incentives of other nations with space travel,” he said.
Earlier, the Pentagon’s US Space Command had reported that a “debris-generating incident in outer space” was being investigated that had prompted ISS astronauts to prepare for a possible evacuation of the facility.
“US Space Command is aware of a debris-generating incident in outer space. We are actively working to define the characteristics of the debris field and will continue to ensure that all space nations have the necessary information to maneuver satellites in the event. of impact “, had indicated the federal agency.
NASA has not yet commented on the incident, but its Russian counterpart, Roscomos, played down the incident.
“The orbit of the object, which forced the crew today to move towards the spacecraft according to standard procedures, has moved away from the orbit of the ISS. The station is in the green zone.”, assured the Russian agency in its Twitter account.
“Friends, everything is normal with us! We continue to work according to the space program,” Anton Shkaplerov, current commander of the Moscow space outpost, said in the same network.
Earlier during the incident, NASA astronauts Raja Chari, Tom Marshburn, Kayla Barron and European Space Agency astronaut Matthias Maurer remained afloat on their SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft for safety, according to a latest report from Spaceflight now.
At the same time, Russian cosmonauts Shkaplerov, Pyotr Dubrov and NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei boarded a Soyuz spacecraft on the Russian segment, the outlet added.
Both spacecraft can be used as lifeboats to bring the crew to Earth in an emergency.
The ISS currently has a staff of seven.
Source From: Ambito
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