Russia's 'Self-Inflicted'... International Space Station Performs Avoidance Maneuver Again [Science Insights]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] Russia is exhibiting a 'beating the drum and playing the janggu' behavior with space debris. It deliberately destroyed its own satellite to test an anti-satellite missile, generating a large amount of space debris, and when this debris threatened the safety of the International Space Station (ISS) where Russian astronauts are aboard, it reportedly conducted an avoidance maneuver.

According to the space specialized media 'Space.com' on the 20th, Dmitry Rogozin, head of the Russian Federal Space Agency, posted on his social network account on the morning of the 17th, stating, "On the 16th, fragments of the Cosmos 1408 satellite approached the ISS, so an unscheduled maneuver was conducted to avoid danger." In other words, the engine of the Russian-owned cargo spacecraft Progress MS-20, currently docked at the ISS, was operated for 4 minutes and 34 seconds to move the ISS away from the expected path of the space debris.

NASA also stated, "There was no issue with the safety of the (ISS) crew and no impact on ISS operations," adding, "Without this maneuver, the space debris would have passed within 0.5 miles of the ISS."

Previously, on November 15 last year, Russia fired an anti-satellite missile at its Cosmos 1408 reconnaissance satellite launched during the Soviet era, destroying it, which resulted in over 1,500 fragments becoming space debris orbiting the Earth. Due to this, the safety of the ISS was also threatened, and on the day of the destruction, ISS crew members had to evacuate to a separate area.