Chinese Anti-Satellite Test Debris Hits Russian Satellite

by Leonard David, SPACE.com’s Space Insider Columnist

Date: 08 March 2013 Time: 05:25 PM ET

On Jan. 22, 2013, debris from a Chinese anti-satellite program test hit a Russian satellite. CREDIT: Courtesy of Analytical Graphics, Inc.

A small Russian spacecraft in orbit appears to have been struck by Chinese space junk from a 2007 anti-satellite test, likely damaging the Russian craft, possibly severely, SPACE.com has learned.

The space collision appears to have occurred on Jan. 22, when a chunk of China's Fengyun 1C satellite, which was intentionally destroyed by that country in a 2007 anti-satellite demonstration, struck the Russian spacecraft, according to an analysis by the Center for Space Standards & Innovation (CSSI) in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

CSSI technical program manager T.S. Kelso reported that the collision involved the Chinese space junk and Russia's small Ball Lens In The Space (BLITS) retroreflector satellite, a 17-pound (7.5 kilograms). The Fengyun 1C satellite debris was created during China's anti-satellite test on Jan. 11, 2007, and has posed a threat to satellites and crewed spacecraft ever since.

More - Link >>> http://www.space.com/20138-russian-satellite-chinese-space-junk.html

Source: Space.com .

Related Blog Post ---

China Space Junk Crash w/Russian Satellite: Legal Action Unlikely (2013 March 13):

Link >>> http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/2013/03/china-space-junk-crash-wrussian.html 

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