The ISS crew was instructed around 9 p.m. EDT to "shelter in their respective spacecraft as a standard precautionary measure after it was informed of a satellite break-up at an altitude near the station’s earlier today."
LeoLabs reports that "a non-operational Russian spacecraft, Resurs P1 (SATNO 39186), released a number of fragments between 13:05 UTC 26 June and 00:51 UTC 27 June."
The satellite was at ~355 km altitude; the ISS orbits at 413 - 422 km altitude.
U.S. Space Command confirms the break-up of the defunct Russian satellite Resurs P1 yesterday. It resulted in over 100 pieces of trackable debris.
Even though NASA has not identified the satellite that resulted in the defensive posture at the ISS yesterday, it probably was due to this satellite.
Cause of satellite break-up is not known at this time.
https://www.spacecom.mil/Newsroom/News/Article-Display/Article/3819238/press-release-break-up-of-russian-owned-space-object/
#SpaceDebris #USSPACECOM
2/n
Update from LeoLabs on the the break-up of the defunct Russian satellite Resurs P1 -
"We are now tracking at least 180 fragments resulting from this event.
We expect this number to increase in the coming days. We are actively analyzing the debris cloud to characterize it, identify a potential cause, and estimate the impact."
Possible causes of the break-up of the defunct Russian satellite Resurs P1:
1. The spacecraft was not properly passivated at the end of mission (draining batteries, venting fuel tanks). Hence, something exploded.
2. Collision with space debris.
3. Destroyed in a test of a Russian anti-satellite (ASAT) weapon. This is sheer speculation at this point with no corroborative evidence or statements from agencies.
https://spacenews.com/russian-satellite-breaks-up-creating-debris-in-low-earth-orbit/
#SpaceDebris
4/n
Further analysis by LeoLabs on the break-up of the defunct Russian satellite Resurs P1 on June 26 which forced ISS astronauts to take shelter -
"This explosion could’ve been triggered by external stimuli such as an impact by a small fragment (not currently cataloged) or an internal structural failure leading to a propulsion system failure."
I.e., #1 or #2 in the previous post, but not #3 the anti-satellite (ASAT) weapon scenario.
https://x.com/LeoLabs_Space/status/1808574616194912610
https://www.eoportal.org/satellite-missions/resurs-p#resurs-p2-remote-sensing-mission
5/n
LeoLabs also states that -
- Any spacecraft operating up to 500 km in altitude may be affected by the resulting fragments from this event
- There are over 2,500 long-lived intact derelict hardware (i.e., abandoned rocket bodies and non-operational payloads) that may suffer a similar fate to Resurs P1 over time.
- It will be weeks to months before the collision hazard has passed.
AkaSci 🛰️
CurroFaiter