Feb. 12, 2009
Russian, United States Satellites Collide
NASA Weighs Risk to Space Station; Private Intelligence Source Questions ‘Accidental’ Classification
By Tony Rutherford
Huntingtonnews.net Reporter
Washington, DC (HNN) – An unfunny thing happened about 485 miles overhead in the vicinity of Siberia. A privately owned U.S. communications satellite collided with a non-functioning Russian satellite, leaving 500 to 600 bits of space debris floating around Earth.
The Washington Post reported that scientists are still concerned that the debris may damage the International Space Station. USA Today relied upon a source at Spaceflight Now to say that the station appeared not at risk … but the source did not clarify whether the debris cloud could put other military or civilian satellites in danger of an orbital space junk collision.
China’s on-line daily publication quoted a spokesman of the Russian Federal Space Agency as stating “he knows nothing” about the collision and declined comment on the incident.
The U.S. satellite belongs to Iridium Satellite LLC which may cause disruptions for their satellite telephone customers.
Stratfor Global Intelligence , which describes itself as the world’s leading private intelligence service, said in its online edition:
“The orbital altitude where the collision took place is among the most crowded in low Earth orbit, but statistically speaking, the enormous scale of space makes the chance that this kind of direct collision would occur completely by accident infinitesimal.
“This unlikelihood is compounded by the fact that the U.S. Air Force Space Surveillance Network provides space situational awareness and tracks some 18,000 satellites, orbital debris and other objects orbiting the earth. Though the network’s tracking of each of these objects is not constant, all objects of a certain size or larger are catalogued; potential collisions or near misses are generally spotted, and satellites can usually be maneuvered to avoid them.”
For more visit: http://www.stratfor.com/analysis/20090211_u_s_russia
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Russian, United States Satellites Collide
NASA Weighs Risk to Space Station; Private Intelligence Source Questions ‘Accidental’ Classification
By Tony Rutherford
Huntingtonnews.net Reporter
Washington, DC (HNN) – An unfunny thing happened about 485 miles overhead in the vicinity of Siberia. A privately owned U.S. communications satellite collided with a non-functioning Russian satellite, leaving 500 to 600 bits of space debris floating around Earth.
The Washington Post reported that scientists are still concerned that the debris may damage the International Space Station. USA Today relied upon a source at Spaceflight Now to say that the station appeared not at risk … but the source did not clarify whether the debris cloud could put other military or civilian satellites in danger of an orbital space junk collision.
China’s on-line daily publication quoted a spokesman of the Russian Federal Space Agency as stating “he knows nothing” about the collision and declined comment on the incident.
The U.S. satellite belongs to Iridium Satellite LLC which may cause disruptions for their satellite telephone customers.
Stratfor Global Intelligence , which describes itself as the world’s leading private intelligence service, said in its online edition:
“The orbital altitude where the collision took place is among the most crowded in low Earth orbit, but statistically speaking, the enormous scale of space makes the chance that this kind of direct collision would occur completely by accident infinitesimal.
“This unlikelihood is compounded by the fact that the U.S. Air Force Space Surveillance Network provides space situational awareness and tracks some 18,000 satellites, orbital debris and other objects orbiting the earth. Though the network’s tracking of each of these objects is not constant, all objects of a certain size or larger are catalogued; potential collisions or near misses are generally spotted, and satellites can usually be maneuvered to avoid them.”
For more visit: http://www.stratfor.com/analysis/20090211_u_s_russia
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