[GLOBAL ECONOMIC TIMES] “A considerable increase in the number of space objects was detected in the orbit of the destroyed telecommunications satellite Intelsat-33e,” the agency said in a statement published on Telegram.
According to Roscosmos, specialists “detected more than 80 fragments” of the damaged space device.
“The analysis of the trajectory of the fragments indicates that the destruction of the satellite was instantaneous,” said the Russian space agency.
He added that “Russian specialists came to the conclusion that there is a potential threat to all existing space equipment, including the Roscosmos orbital group.”
“Coordinate information is now continuing to be collected to detect new fragments of the destroyed satellite, which will be included in the calculations of dangerous approaches” with the Russian telecommunications satellites that are located nearby.
According to Roscosmos, these are the Express-AT1, Yamal-402 and Express-AM6 telecommunications satellites, as well as the Elektro-L meteorological satellite.
The company reported this Monday on its website of "a service interruption on the Intelsat 33e satellite, which is affecting customers in Europe, Africa and parts of the Asia-Pacific region" after suffering "an anomaly on October 19."
Intelsat-33e was launched in August 2016 aboard an Ariane-5 carrier rocket from the Kourou spaceport, French Guiana, and entered service in January 2017.
According to Roscosmos estimates, there are more than 7,000 tons of space debris in circum-Earth orbit, and daily the automatic collision avoidance system issues between 3 and 10 warnings of the approach of Russian spacecraft with potentially dangerous objects.
The danger of space debris impacts has forced the International Space Station (ISS) to modify its orbit on multiple occasions, the most recent maneuver taking place in August 2023.
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