WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – A Russian satellite broke up into more than 100 pieces of debris in orbit overnight, forcing astronauts on the International Space Station to take shelter, U.S. space agencies said.
There were no immediate details on what caused the break-up of the RESURS-P1 Russian Earth observation satellite, which was decommissioned in 2022.
The event occurred in an orbit near the International Space Station, prompting U.S. astronauts on board to shelter in their spacecraft for roughly an hour, NASA’s Space Station office said.
U.S. radars detected the satellite releasing a cloud of debris in low-Earth orbit Wednesday night and early Thursday morning, space-tracking firm LeoLabs said.
U.S. Space Command said the satellite immediately created “over 100 pieces of trackable debris.”
“USSPACECOM has observed no immediate threats and is continuing to conduct routine conjunction assessments to support the safety and sustainability of the space domain,” Space Command added in its statement today.