New Russian satellite-killer produces decades of fallout
The International Space Station is going into lockdown every 93 minutes. Satellite operators are scrambling to see if their assets are at risk. All thanks to a “most irresponsible” Russian orbital weapons test.
The world’s space agencies and industries went into high alert overnight and ground-based radars had begun issuing warnings about the appearance of a deadly new hail of debris in low Earth orbit.
It was quickly determined that this was not the result of a random, accidental collision.
Instead, it was a deliberate act.
“This is the most irresponsible action we have seen in space for some years,” says LeoLabs Australia director Terry van Haren. “It is probably at the worst altitude you could imagine, above the ISS at 420 km and just under where the mega-constellations are setting up [520km for Starlink]. What were they thinking?” [Continue reading…]