Russian RESURS-P1 satellite breaks in orbit, releasing over 180 pieces of trackable debris and forcing ISS astronauts to take shelter

Russian decommissioned satellite Resurs-P1 broke up in orbit on June 26, 2024, releasing roughly 100 pieces of trackable debris. The number rose to 180 by the end of June 27 and is expected to keep rising, according to LeoLabs. Following the breakup, NASA instructed the 9 astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) to take shelter in their respective spacecraft as a standard precautionary measure.

At around 16:00 UTC on June 26, a decommissioned Russian satellite — Resurs-P1 — broke up in orbit resulting in over 100 pieces of trackable debris, according to the U.S. Space Command.

Although no immediate danger was observed, shortly after 01:00 UTC on June 27, NASA instructed the 9 astronauts aboard the ISS to head to their 3 respective spacecraft for shelter as a standard precautionary measure.

Mission control observed the path of the debris and gave the astronauts clearance to exit the spacecraft and the station resumed normal functions after about an hour.

The approximately 6 000 kg (13 000 pounds) satellite was in a nearly circular orbit at about 355 km (220 miles) at the time of the event, according to Leo Labs, a California-based company that provides collision avoidance service and real-time conjunction alerts for satellite operators.

“We will continue to monitor the resulting debris cloud and provide more details in the near future,” a Leo Labs representative said.

On June 27, LeoLabs said that it had been tracking at least 180 debris from Resurs-P1 and it expects that number to increase in the coming days. “We are actively analyzing the debris cloud to characterize it, identify a potential cause, and estimate the impact,” the company said.

While the cause of the breakup is yet to be determined, Resurs-P1 ceased boosting orbit in 2017 and was reported to be functioning until September 2021. The satellite was finally taken out of service at the end of December 2021 due to failure of onboard equipment.

According to SpaceNews, there has been speculation that the spacecraft was hit by a Russian anti-satellite (ASAT) weapon in a test like the one in November 2021, when ASAT struck Cosmos 1408, creating nearly 1 800 pieces of tracked debris.

“However, there have been no statements by either the Defense Department or the Russian Ministry of Defense about such a test, which likely would have been observed by American assets, and Russia did not file airspace restrictions associated with any potential launch site for an ASAT test at the time Resurs P1 broke up.”

Other possibilities include a collision with an untracked piece of debris, a micrometeorite impact, an internal malfunction, or another unknown event.

References:

¹ Press Release: Break-up of Russian-owned space object – U.S. Space Command – June 27, 2024

² Russian satellite breaks up, creating debris in low Earth orbit – SpaceNews – June 27, 2024

³ Resurs-P1 mission- Russian Space Web – Accessed June 28, 2024

Featured image credit: The Watchers (representation)