As Russian Satellite Breaks Up, ISS Residents Take Shelter

Space debris sends astronauts, cosmonauts into spacecraft that carried them to space station
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 28, 2024 9:25 AM CDT
Low Earth Orbit Just Got a Bit More Crowded
The Starliner spacecraft docked to the Harmony module of the International Space Station, orbiting 262 miles above Egypt's Mediterranean coast, on June 13, 2024.   (NASA via AP)

Astronauts on the International Space Station were forced to take shelter for an hour Wednesday as a defunct Russian satellite broke into nearly 200 pieces. The Resurs-P1 Russian Earth observation satellite, declared inoperative in 2022, broke apart in low Earth orbit near the space station around noon ET Wednesday, creating "over 100 pieces of trackable debris," according to US Space Command, which noted there were "no immediate threats." A day later, space-tracking firm LeoLabs said it had detected at least 180 pieces of debris, a number expected "to increase in the coming days."

LeoLabs said it could be "weeks to months before the hazard has passed," per Reuters. Space debris can damage critical components of a satellite or space station, hence the reason the nine astronauts aboard ISS took cover as a precautionary measure. Around 9pm ET Wednesday, NASA alerted the six US astronauts and three cosmonauts to begin "safe haven" procedures, requiring them to enter the spacecraft that carried them to the space station in case of an emergency departure. "The astronauts were likely in their sleep period when the incident occurred," per Space.com. A statement said they exited the spacecraft about an hour later "and the station resumed normal operations."

It's unclear what caused Resurs-P1 to breakup. In 2021, Russia drew criticism for blowing up a defunct satellite in orbit with a ground-based anti-satellite missile, creating thousands of pieces of debris, but there's no indication that occurred again. Analysts say it's more likely that leftover fuel or some other issue with the satellite triggered an explosion, per Reuters. Roscosmos reported onboard equipment failures in 2021 before decommissioning Resurs-P1 a year later. Launched in 2013, the satellite operated beyond its lifespan, per Space.com. Before Wednesday, it "appeared to be lowering its altitude through layers of other active satellites for an eventual atmospheric reentry," per Reuters. (More International Space Station stories.)

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