An old Russian satellite from the end of the Soviet era, which has now been deactivated, was hit by space debris at an altitude of 870 kilometers and the impact created several pieces of debris. Status report on this incident, illustrating orbital overpopulation.
On August 29, astrophysicist and space debris specialist Jonathan McDowell written down on The event dates back to June 28th.
Weighing more than 200 kilograms, Kosmos-2143 is a former communications satellite of the Soviet-Russian armed forces that was launched in 1991. It is in an orbit with an altitude of almost 1,400 kilometers. At this altitude, there are no longer enough stray air particles above Earth’s atmosphere to act as atmospheric dredging, which would gradually reduce the satellite’s altitude until it descends and burns up in our atmosphere. These high-frequency satellites can therefore stay up there for centuries.
Invisible debris
In its ongoing monitoring of the sky, Norad (North American Aerospace Defense Command) has discovered seven pieces of debris around Kosmos-2143. These fragments likely come from a collision between the satellite and debris. Since the debris had not yet been discovered, it was likely less than 10 centimeters long. According to the European Space Agency (ESA), more than 30,000 pieces of debris larger than 10 centimeters have been identified in orbits less than 2,000 kilometers high, and the number of pieces of sheet metal larger than 1 centimeter would be 1 million.
This new incident once again shows the danger posed by space debris and an ever-increasing orbital population. The announcement of the incident came a few days after ESA’s announcement of the impact of one large piece of debris on another. In its annual report on the space environment, ESA lists 1,409 satellites and other vehicles that will be launched into orbit in 2022. An unprecedented record in the entire history of space conquest, which will undoubtedly be surpassed this year.
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