Stardust

First satellite collision recorded in space

The Russian military satellite Kosmos-2251, “retired to the reserve” back in 1995, unexpectedly reminded itself not only of its creators, but also of its once potential enemy. On Tuesday, this device, rotating at an altitude of 800 km from the Earth's surface, did not share an orbit with the American communications satellite Iridium.

The news of this unprecedented collision over Taimyr first came from overseas, from the US National Aeronautics and Space Agency, and then the fact was confirmed by the leaders of the Russian Space Forces. It is noteworthy that the statements of both sides referred not to the “accident” itself - the first uncontrolled collision of entire objects in low-Earth orbit, but to its consequences. NASA representative Kelly Humphreys, who was the first to publish data on the collision, explained that the postponement of the Discovery shuttle launch to the International Space Station, planned for Thursday, was not at all connected with this incident, and in Russia experts insisted that the debris of the devices formed after the collision would not damage the ISS rotating on several hundred kilometers below.

The reluctance of the Russian military to talk about the lost device is quite understandable - the satellite, although outdated, is completely secret. According to First Deputy Commander of the Space Forces Alexander Yakushin, the device was launched into orbit back in 1993, and stopped working two years later. That is why there was no constant monitoring of him. Of course, it has long been known that domestic spacecraft are created “with reserves” and often remain operational after the warranty service life has expired. However, the strategic communications satellite of the Strela-2m type, which was assigned the number 2251, belongs to the first generation of such devices, replaced by more modern ones back in the 90s. Satellite manufacturers from JSC Information Satellite Systems named after. M.F. Reshetnev was shown to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin last October during his visit to the city of Zheleznogorsk .

The reluctance of representatives of the company Iridium Satellite LLC, which owned the second, completely working communications satellite, is also understandable. According to ITAR-TASS, the company’s statement emphasizes that the incident will have a “very limited impact” on the operation of the system, since the lost device is one of more than six dozen satellites launched into orbit to implement Motorola’s once-ambitious Iridium project.

True, this project, in which more than $7 billion was invested in the first half of the 90s and which envisaged 100% coverage of the planet's territory with satellite telephony, ended in bankruptcy. At the end of the last century, investors who were suspected of close ties with the Pentagon had to save it, and at the same time all the satellites from inevitable flooding. And therefore, now for Iridium Satellite LLC it is much more important to demonstrate an increase in the number of subscribers (last year there were already more than 300 thousand) than to sort things out with an old partner, because a significant part of its communication satellites were launched into orbit by Russian carriers from the Baikonur Cosmodrome.

Therefore, in the end, the discussion of the consequences of this space incident went not along the path of finding the culprit, but towards analyzing the measures that need to be taken in order not to multiply orbital debris at altitudes where most of the operating artificial satellites are located.

NASA reported that it is now forced to monitor more than 17 thousand objects in low-Earth orbits and that the search for all the debris from the latest “accident” will take several more weeks. The Russian military yesterday also confirmed its intention to closely monitor what remains of the orbital “veteran” and the private communications satellite that blocked its path. Major General Yakushin assured that the Space Forces' monitoring equipment will monitor the wreckage of the two vehicles, recording their movement at altitudes from 500 to 1,300 km. At the same time, a representative of the Mission Control Center near Moscow, Valery Lyndin, assures that the International Space Station, on board of which a crew of three is currently working, is not yet threatened by fragments of colliding satellites. In addition, the space station has the ability to conduct an evasive maneuver by changing the altitude of its orbit.

Fedor SEREBRYANSKY