Indian missile puts Space Station in check

India launched a missile a week ago to destroy a satellite. From NASA, they ensure the maneuver endangers the International Space Station

The destruction of the satellite with a missile on March 24 produced dangerous space debris for the space base, said Jim Bridenstine, NASA Administrator.

The Indian trial created 60 fragments of orbital debris large enough (ten centimeters or more) to be tracked, of which 24 are higher than the orbit of the International Space Station around the Earth.

The destruction has also generated smaller remains that can not be tracked but are also dangerous.

The risk of impact to the orbital complex of this clbad of fragments increased by 44% for 10 days, although Bridenstine stated that the Space Station has the means to avoid them.

"It's a terrible thing to create an event that sends debris into a glorious era that flies over the International Space Station," said Bridenstine.

He added: "This type of activity is not compatible with the future of human spaceflight that we must see."

The satellite was destroyed in a 300-kilometer orbit, below that of the space station, about 400 km high.

Another threat

The American armed forces monitor about 23 000 objects of more than 10 centimeters able to touch the space station and their satellites.

Three thousand of them belong to a maneuver similar to that carried out by India a few days ago. It is an anti-satellite test conducted by China in 2007.