On Tuesday, November 19, the International Space Station (ISS) performed a maneuver to avoid collision with space debris. To evade, the engines of the Progress cargo spacecraft, currently docked to the station, were switched on for 5.5 minutes. This maneuver was to ensure the safety of the orbital outpost.
According to NASA, the evasive maneuver was coordinated with Roscosmos and other ISS partners. If the space station had not changed the altitude of its orbit, the debris could have come within about 4 kilometers of the station, which is very close on a cosmic scale. The potentially dangerous object turned out to be part of an inoperable defensive weather satellite that was destroyed in 2015.
Increasing in orbit maneuvering frequency
Such maneuvers are no rarity for the ISS. According to NASA’s December 2022 analysis, the station has performed debris evasion 32 times since its launch in 1999. The number of such cases continues to grow due to the increasing debris from rockets, satellites and other objects in low-Earth orbit. For example, in March 2023, the ISS changed trajectory twice within the same week.
Low Earth orbit is becoming more dense due to the increasing number of satellites such as SpaceX’s Starlink. Now this array has more than 6,600 active satellites, and in the future it may grow to 40,000 satellites.
Despite advances in technology, the problem of space debris remains relevant. It requires a coordinated effort by the international community to mitigate future risks.
On the same day, two hours after the evasive maneuver, SpaceX carried out the sixth test launch of the Starship megacraft from the Starbase spaceport in Texas. This reusable spacecraft is being developed for future missions to the Moon, Mars, and other space missions, including the Starlink expansion.
Earlier we reported on how a burning Starlink satellite scared US residents.
Provided by Space
