Defunct Russian Satellite Breaks Up Into 100 Pieces in Space; 9 Astronauts in ISS Briefly Evacuate to Docked Return Spacecraft for Safety

Nine men were on the International Space Station (ISS) when a broken Russian satellite broke into over 100 pieces late Wednesday night.

The astronauts took cover in their docked return ship. This tragedy shows how dangerous space junk in low Earth orbit is getting.

Defunct Russian Satellite Breaks Up Into 100 Pieces in Space; 9 Astronauts in ISS Briefly Evacuate to Docked Return Spacecraft for Safety — (Photo: Getty Images/ NASA)

Astronaut Safety and Precautionary Steps

Expedition 71 on the ISS moved to their three docked ships after 9 p.m. EDT (0200 GMT) to be safe. NASA said on X (which used to be Twitter) that the scientists had to wait an hour before they were allowed to leave and start doing normal things. This method of getting out of the ship is a standard safety step to protect the crew in an accident.

Shortly after 9 p.m. EDT, @NASA instructed crews aboard the space station to shelter in their respective spacecraft as a standard precautionary measure after it was informed of a satellite break-up at an altitude near the station’s earlier Wednesday. Mission Control continued to…
— International Space Station (@Space_Station) June 27, 2024

LeoLabs recognized the satellite as the Russian Resurs-P1 (SATNO 39186), which is not working. Resurs-P1 was released on June 25, 2013, and hasn't done anything since December 2021. U.S. Space Command says the satellite's sudden breakup made a debris field with over 100 pieces that can be tracked.

NASA and the military keep an eye on the dangers of space junk. If time permits, the ISS can move to avoid hitting things within a certain range. They take cover in their return ship in case of an emergency on Wednesday.

Growing Space Debris Concerns

More and more space junk is a worry for space officials around the world. NORAD keeps an eye on about 45,300 items in orbit, not counting smaller pieces that can't be tracked. The Union of Concerned Scientists says 7,560 operational satellites make space more crowded.

The Resurs-P1 split is not the only one. Russia's anti-satellite test in November 2021 killed a spacecraft and made a lot of other space junk. These events show the problems with space junk and the need for careful control.

When Resurs-P1 breaks down, it could leave behind trash for weeks or months. The space station and SpaceX's Starlink network are two of the satellites LeoLabs found 355 km (220 miles) away.

Safety measures are essential to get astronauts out of the spacecraft in these situations. Some NASA workers hid in the SpaceX Crew Dragon and the Russian Soyuz, while Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams got on the Boeing Starliner. This shows why space organizations must be ready to respond quickly to threats.

The Need for International Cooperation

The Resurs-P1 event brought up the idea of an international system for managing space travel again. There isn't a method like this, so space missions often cause junk to build up. Global regulation is needed to stop satellite accidents and space wars.

NASA and other space agencies want better control and monitoring of space junk to ensure the safety of future missions. Addressing these problems requires cooperation between countries. The Resurs-P1 event shows how dangerous it is for low Earth orbit to become crowded.

The collapse of Resurs-P1 and the astronauts' departure from the International Space Station show that space junk is a big problem. Space traffic jams make it even more critical for countries to work together and handle space traffic well. To protect people and future projects, we must work together to reduce space junk that could hurt people.