NASA denounces the fact that an Indian test puts the International Space Station at risk – 04/02/2019

The destruction by an Indian missile of one of its satellites in orbit March 27 has produced dangerous space debris, as reported by NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine.

The Indian satellite was destroyed Wednesday at an altitude of about 300 km, well below the International Space Station (ISS, 410 km) and most satellites in orbit. The Indian authorities have denied that the trial can generate conflicts in space.

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However, according to data from the US Space Agency, the Indian test created 60 fragments of orbital debris large enough to be tracked, Of which 24 are growing more than the orbit of the ISS around the Earth. The risk of impact on the orbital complex of this clbad of fragments it increased by 44% for 10 days, although Bridenstine badured that the Space Station had the means to avoid them.

Bridenstine had hard words on the Indian test at a meeting in a NASA city hall, claiming that cause this kind of risk to man in the space and low Earth orbit operations, it was unacceptable.

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"Here a terrible thing, terrible, create an event that sends debris to the climax of the international space station, "Bridenstine said in an act with NASA employees. And this kind of activity is not compatible with the future of human space flight, we must see"

The United States armed forces are those who record objects in space to predict the risk of collision not only for the Station, but also for the satellites. The army follows the route of 23,000 objects over 10 centimeters across the space.

"We are in charge of the commercialization of the low Earth orbit, but also of the creation of space activities that we have never seen in order to benefit the human condition, be it in the pharmaceutical products or in the 3D printing of human organs to save lives here on Earth, or manufacturing capabilities in space that can not be achieved in a gravity well, "he said added.

"All that they put themselves in danger When this type of event occurs and one country does, other countries feel that they must also do so, "said NASA's administrator, quoted by Space.com.

Wave of questions

Bridenstine therefore joined the questions that the trial had received last week. "Unfortunately, there is no (yet) binding international legal standard prohibiting the creation of meaningless space debris," said Frans von der Dunk, Professor of Space Law at the University. of Nebraska-Lincoln.

At the same time, the test "strictly speaking" was a violation of the obligation under the 1967 Outer Space Treaty to inform other countries of the same problem., "because they could suffer harmful interference in their own satellite operations," added von der Dunk.

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These tests, "they are increasingly against the trend and the spirit of international law ", directed towards a global obligation to refrain from the creation of space debris, said the specialist to AFP.

Since 2002, global space powers have complied with an informal code of conduct to prevent the creation of such garbage, and the United Nations has approved such a resolution.

Pentagon Acting Chief Patrick Shanahan also questioned the test: "We all live in space. Do not make a disaster"

How was the test

The Indian military research agency DRDO is the one that proceeded to the destruction of an Indian satellite with a missile launched from an island in front of the state of Odisha (this) It has become the fourth country in the world to achieve this technological feat.

The operation, christened "Shakti Mission" ("strength" in Hindi), it lasted three minutes.

"Our goal is to establish peace and to not create an atmosphere of war. It is not directed against any country, "Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a televised address.

"It's a proud moment for India"badured Modi, claiming that his country of 1.250 million inhabitants was united to the "superpowers of space". Only the United States, Russia and China have introduced similar technology.

Anticipating the controversy surrounding space debris at the start of the trial, the Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs had badured that "the exercise would take place in a low orbit to ensure the absence of space debris." they will disintegrate and return to Earth in a few weeks. "

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The agreement that was not

India's trial took place in the midst of the failure of negotiations to lay the groundwork for a treaty to prevent the arms race in outer space.

The dialogues, held under the auspices of the UN in Geneva, they concluded last Friday without consensus, in a new stage of world diplomacy for disarmament.

Twenty-five nations, including powers such as China, the United States and Russia, held two weeks of negotiations to lay the groundwork for a treaty guaranteeing peace in outer space.

"We have not managed to converge," said Brazil's ambbadador to the Conference on Disarmament, Guilherme de Aguiar Patriota, who led the negotiations. And he added that the goal was perhaps "very ambitious".

Sources: DPA and AFP

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