Has Russia Tested its Hunter Killer Satellite again ?

It's reported that astronauts onboard the ISS were forced to take shelter in the docked Starliner spacecraft on Thursday following the unexplained break up of a Russian satellite on Wednesday which was declared dead in 2022 , Russia drew condemnation when it tested the technology a few years ago but following the announcement from the Pentagon last month that a Cosmos satellite had been launched on May 16 that reached an orbit that essentially lets it stalk U.S. spy satellites it seems these two events may well be connected.

The ISS's nine crew members — including the Boeing Starliner's stranded Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams — took cover for about an hour last night (June 27) shortly after 9 p.m. EDT (0100 GMT).

The astronauts took the precautionary measure following the breakup of the Resurs-P1 Russian Earth observation satellite, which shattered into more than 100 pieces near the space station on Wednesday (June 26).

"Mission Control continued to monitor the path of the debris, and after about an hour, the crew was cleared to exit their spacecraft and the station resumed normal operations," NASA said on the social platform X.

Obit-monitoring company LeoLabs first noticed the Resurs-P1 satellite, declared dead since 2022, breaking apart when it spotted a "debris-generating event in Low Earth Orbit" on June 26, according to a post on X. The U.S. Space Command said there were "no immediate threats" to other satellites. The exact cause of the satellite's breakup remains unknown.
www.livescience.com...

a reply to: gortex

Oh wow can you imagine if some debris from that hit the space station? I wonder if they were nervous or just cool cucumbers being astronauts and what not. I would be crapping my pants.

Sounds like a good plot for a sci fi movie

I got all worked up at the title...until I realized it had nothing to do with the Bidens.

I wonder what Russia's spin on the incident will be?

a reply to: Shoshanna

You haven't watched the movie 'Gravity' have you?

Nice orbital debris chain reactions in that one.

I find it strange that a supposed dead satalite suddenly breaks up for no explained reason. Was there an impact, battery explode, self destruct finally went off? If it broke up from entering the atmosphere, it would have just burned up and not stay in orbit.

Testing satalite weapons is going to eliminate low Earth orbit operations for everyone for a hundred years or so. We have put enough trash up there by bad planning already.

a reply to: BeyondKnowledge3

Haven't seen it but I will look for it now i like sci fi/disaster/space movies

originally posted by: BeyondKnowledge3
a reply to: Shoshanna

You haven't watched the movie 'Gravity' have you?

Nice orbital debris chain reactions in that one.

That's exactly the same movie that came to mind when I read the news... terrifying!

SPOILER ALERT (this is the just one of the multiple strikes that occur in the movie).

a reply to: gortex

Or someone else is testing their hunter-killer devices on Resurs-P1.

Any Boeing X-37 in orbit or thereabouts?

a reply to: gortex


Has Russia Tested its Hunter Killer Satellite again ?

I hear it's not All that Cracked Up as it should be .

a reply to: gortex

For this exact reason I don’t understand how musk was allowed to proceed with starlink. 12-30 thousand satellites… 🤷‍♂️

a reply to: Bluntone22

The International Space Station and Starlink satellites operate in different orbits.

And they operate at different altitudes and inclinations.

Ensuring they are not in the same orbital path so as to minimise the risk of collision.

www.space.com...#:~:text=The%20space%20station%20orbits%20Earth,flying%20over%20a%20local%20area.
www.space.com...

a reply to: BeyondKnowledge3

We need to develop, and deploy, a low-cost "orbital debris-sweeper": Perhaps an on-orbit inflatable "net" that could be lofted to a desired orbit and "sweep up" the debris left by a "deconstructed" satellite, then de-orbit with the debris to burn up on re-entry.

a reply to: Mantiss2021

The velocities involved that net better be made out of something rather special.

At least you are floating ideas all the same.

a reply to: Mantiss2021

We need to keep the emergency escape towers on the capsules. Once in orbit, they can be remotely controlled with small engines to large objects to the deorbited. Just stick the tower to them, point the engines retrograde and fire the emergency escape rockets. Down comes part of the mess.

It would take months to change the orbits to intercept the targets but it would be worth it.

All the new satalites are required to have deorbit engines for when they pass their expected usefulness. The older stuff is the problem.

a reply to: andy06shake

The velocity, relative to the ground might be high, but the delta-V between two co-orbiting objects can be near zero.

Otherwise orbital docking would be a shattering experience.


So something like Kevlar would probably be sufficient. Main concern would be how big a "net" could be deployed while keeping total launch mass manageable.

a reply to: andy06shake

I wasn’t specifically referring to the ISS but I suppose I should have been more clear.

Starlink was originally going to be 40,000 satellites which is ten times more than what’s already up there. When they inevitably start to fail and collide it will be a disaster. Especially for anything in a lower orbit as gravity pulls all the little pieces back to earth.

Nasa has expressed concern as well. Apparently by satellites interfering with launch windows and increased risk of collisions.

www.cnet.com...

www.space.com...

a reply to: Mantiss2021

Well Kevlar is rather heavy and would be a significant factor where the net size is concerned.

Probably better to look at some kind of lightweight metamaterial composition-wise.

And if its going to maneuver to mitigate/match velocities in orbit then its going to have to carry a fuel source and engines of some sorts.

They will inevitably have to do something about the ever-increasing problem put it that way.

originally posted by: BeyondKnowledge3
a reply to: Mantiss2021

We need to keep the emergency escape towers on the capsules. Once in orbit, they can be remotely controlled with small engines to large objects to the deorbited. Just stick the tower to them, point the engines retrograde and fire the emergency escape rockets. Down comes part of the mess.

Not quite that simple.

The Tsiolkovsy equation, which governs the mass/fuel limitations which determine what can be included as payload using current launch technology, makes it prohibitive to include the additional fuel, avionics, and necessary "docking infrastructure" this idea would require.

a reply to: Bluntone22

Oh, i think we can all see the problems that may arise Bluntone22.

Collisions are going to be an issue at some point.

a reply to: Bluntone22

Those are low earth orbit and far smaller satellites. They’re designed to fall and burn up on reentry if they fail.

Gravity has more of an impact on inner space and will just pull them.

originally posted by: andy06shake
a reply to: Mantiss2021

Well Kevlar is rather heavy and would be a significant factor where the net size is concerned.

Probably better to look at some kind of lightweight metamaterial composition-wise.

And if its going to maneuver to mitigate/match velocities in orbit then its going to have to carry a fuel source and engines of some sorts.

They will inevitably have to do something about the ever-increasing problem put it that way.

I was actually thinking of using the gas used to inflate the structure, in a controlled release through a network of valves, to steer the device into position once boosted to the desired orbit.


About 40 years ago I proposed using an inflatable orbital structure as an orbital communications relay antenna. The structure would habeen coated with a resin that would harden under solar UV radiation on orbit.

Once hardened, the inflating games really serve no purpose. So they could be used to maneuver the structure, at least as as a "one-off" placement.


Atmospheric drag would then de-orbit the Sweeper with its debris payload.