In its latest assessment on debris in space published in Orbital Debris Quarterly News, NASA claimed there are 101 pieces of debris big enough to be tracked, of which 49 pieces remain in orbit as of 15 July.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of the United States has revealed in a report that debris from India's anti-satellite test on 27 March is still floating in space.

The NASA report, however, said most of the debris created by the 27 March test seemed to have disintegrated. It was possible that smaller pieces from that test are floating around and not being tracked, it stated.

India shot down its 740-kilogram Microsat-R satellite in March to demonstrate its ability to destroy the space infrastructure of an enemy country. India became the fourth country in the world to demonstrate this capability.

India's space agency, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) had launched the Microsat-R satellite on 24 January of this year.

India's Ministry of External Affairs had said in a statement after the test that "the test was done in the lower atmosphere to ensure that there is no space debris. Whatever debris that is generated will decay and fall back onto the earth within weeks."

The NASA report claims this is the first credible information regarding the amount of space debris created by India's test appearing in the public domain. It also said that this floating debris poses some danger to the International Space Station.

The report further reveals India had 97 functional, and non-functional but intact satellites in space as of 30 June and 157 pieces of trackable space debris. This is a small part of the total 19,404 large objects in space from satellites launched by all spacefaring nations. Out of this 14,432 consist of the debris and junk of used rockets.

Source: RIA Novosti

Related Links
Indian Space Research Organisation
Space Technology News - Applications and Research

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The Space Media Network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceMediaNetwork Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceMediaNetwork Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Boosting Space Situational Awareness: SMC awards SBIR Phase 2 contract
Los Angeles AFB CA (SPX) Aug 22, 2019
The Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) Directorate of Special Programs (DirSP) awarded a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase 2 contract to Bluestaq LLC who will develop the Space Situational Awareness (SSA) Marketplace program under the auspices of AFWERX. AFWERX was created in 2017 by then Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson to support rapid innovation within the Defense Department. SBIR is a prime example of the AFWERX goal of fostering a culture of innovation. A r ... read more