India Test Threatens Space Station: Washington Post

India became the fourth country in the world to destroy a satellite in low orbit, but in the process created space junk that threatens the International Space Station. India’s satellite was 186 miles and the ISS typically travels at least 205 miles from Earth, but the missile attack shot debris into higher space, explains Rick Noack for the Washington Post. NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine called the test “unacceptable.” The European Space Agency estimates that about 34,000 pieces of space junk larger than 10 centimeters are in orbit, and NASA monitors about one third of those. An assessment suggests, according to the Washington Post, that the “test increased the likelihood of small debris hitting the International Space Station (ISS) by 44 percent over a period of 10 days.” Eventually, the risk from the debris will return to normal though Noack notes that some debris remains from China’s 2007 test. The United States was first to shoot down a satellite in 1958. – YaleGlobal