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Earth observation satellite almost crashed into Russian space junk

An important Earth-tracking satellite must adjust its flight path to avoid floating debris in the orbit of the decommissioned Cosmos satellite.





Sentinel 1A and 1B satellites are part of ESA's Copernicus program.  Photo: ESA

Sentinel 1A and 1B satellites are part of ESA’s Copernicus program. Image: ESA

The European Space Agency (ESA) detailed the collision of the Sentinel-1A satellite in a post on Twitter on May 18. According to the ESA, a Russian rocket test in 2021 broke the Cosmos satellite into orbital pieces.

On May 16, Sentinel-1A performed emergency maneuvers to avoid a dangerous collision. “Following for collision avoidance is a daily routine in mission control, and our team has been thoroughly trained to deal with a high-risk event,” the ESA said. “However, this missed collision is unique in that the situation changed so quickly, it was difficult to avoid, and we were given less than 24 hours of warning.”

Sentinel-1A is a satellite of ESA’s Copernicus Earth observation program. This satellite specializes in detecting and tracking oil spills, mapping sea ice, changes in the ground, and providing data for disaster management.

The satellite has to move to avoid space debris a few centimeters in diameter. The impact force from such small debris is enough to destroy the satellite. ESA shifted Sentinel-1A’s orbit to 140 m. Although Cosmos orbited more than 200 km below Sentinel-1A, the energy released from the explosion sent debris flying in all directions, intersecting the orbit of the ESA satellite. The task team has only a few hours to plan and execute the operations.

Now, Sentinel-1A is safe. The problem of space junk is getting worse and worse, endangering not only satellites but the International Space Station (ISS). The ISS station sometimes has to dodge flying debris. The destruction of Cosmos created more than 1,500 new pieces of debris in orbit, and the recent Sentinel flyby certainly wasn’t the last.

An Khang (According to Cnet)

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