By: Hunter Ding
On June 25, 2024, a decommissioned Russian satellite, Resurs P1, broke into over 100 pieces, creating a cloud of debris in low Earth orbit, prompting astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) to take precautionary measures. The said satellite was orbiting 220 miles above the ground when it shattered.
Resurs P1 was launched by Russia to observe Earth and produce imagery from space to assist with agriculture, meteorology, transportation, and other purposes. Russia retired Resurs P1 in 2022, and over the last two years, the satellite has been slowly losing altitude. Roscosmos, the Russian space agency and former operator for Resurs P1, did not respond to the request for comment by the New York Times.
The satellite’s destruction added to the 25,000 pieces of debris of over 4 inches in width, including dead satellites, lost tool bags, and more. Experts view the accumulation of space debris as detrimental to future space operations, and there are currently projects being initiated to remove larger items from orbit.
Why this satellite shattered is still unknown. Astronomer Johnathan McDowell of the Harvard & Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics notes that there were “a wide range of possibilities”. Here are some possibilities provided, all increasingly worrisome. It could have been an internal explosion of a long-dead battery inside the satellite. Another explanation is that the decommissioned satellite collided with a piece of space debris that was orbiting Earth. The U.S. Space Force keeps tabs on sizable orbital debris to prevent such collisions, but it is likely that the colliding piece was too small to be tracked. Third, and most concerning, was that the event was deliberate.
In 2021, Russia fired a missile at one of its own defunct satellites. Similar tests were done by China, India, and the U.S., though the latter banned such tests in 2022. This theory is fairly dubious, as Russia issued an advance notice to air personnel before the 2021 test so that flight operators could avoid the air above the launch site. In addition, weighing at around 13,000 pounds, it is unviable for an ASAT (anti-satellite) missile test, because of all the scraps it would create. Still, the satellite passed over a Russian launch site during the window of time that the accident occurred.
On the grand scope of politics and space, this could mean many big things. In the end, though, it really just shows how fraught space travel can be.