Russia shot down an old Soviet satellite. What you need to know about these tests
- Pavel Aksenov
- BBC
By knocking down an old satellite from Earth with a rocket, Russia joined the club of countries, which before it included only the United States, China and India. Why did she need this test and what will change now?
We are talking about those countries that have created weapons, a method for solving problems of combating spacecraft, but at the same time they are not themselves deployed in near-earth space.
Such weapons are not taken into account in the large international treaty on outer space, concluded in 1967. It prohibits the placement of any types of weapons of mass destruction in outer space. However, it does not in any way stipulate other types of weapons – in particular, those that are deployed on the ground.
The information about the test was confirmed on Tuesday afternoon by the Russian Ministry of Defense.
“We’ve really experienced a successful forward-looking system.
What kind of system Russia tested is unknown.
In the press there are references to the S-500 anti-aircraft missile systems, developed recently, as well as the A-235 Nudol strategic anti-missile system.
Anti-satellite club
The United States and the Soviet Union have used anti-satellite systems in the past.
America began the first tests of anti-satellite aircraft missiles in 1959. During one of the tests, an I-47 bomber fired an interceptor missile, which passed just six kilometers from the target satellite. This accuracy was then considered a great success.
In the USSR, in the 1960s, he created the IS apparatus (satellite fighter). One trial ended with the complete destruction of the target. This system was in service in 1978-1993.
The Americans tested the ASM-135 ASAT aviation anti-satellite missile and shot down an inoperative satellite in 1985.
In the USSR, there were also projects for aircraft anti-satellite missiles, but they did not come to tests.
In the new century, rocket technologies have appeared that make it possible to shoot down satellites in relatively low orbits with rockets that are launched from the ground or water. This is exactly what the Indians did in 2019 and the Chinese in 2007, launching missiles from the ground, and the Americans in 2008 launched an SM-3 interceptor missile from a destroyer.
Unlike American programs, missiles can carry a large warhead. They are distinguished from the Soviet program by the fact that in the USSR they built an interceptor satellite, which approached the target after several turns, maneuvered and exploded nearby, while modern ammunition is delivered directly to the target, hitting it either with a directed explosion or crashing into it.
There are other types of anti-satellite weapons that use lasers, for example, but they are not as effective as missile systems.
What’s with the wreckage?
Interception and destruction of a satellite by a rocket or other spacecraft always leads to the appearance of debris in space – these are the remnants of the interceptor and the target. They become space debris.
Debris in space is dangerous because it orbits at such a speed that when it collides with other objects – a satellite or space station – it can destroy it.
In this case, the debris does not remain in the same orbit, but scatter in different directions. Some will go to Earth and burn up in the atmosphere, while others can rise to a higher orbit.
The higher the orbit in which space debris moves, the longer it will take to sink to Earth under the influence of gravity.
As a result of Russian tests, according to US State Department spokesman Ned Price, about 1,500 and hundreds of thousands of small debris were formed.
Confirmation of these figures from other sources, and this is indicated by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov: “To declare that Russia creates risks for the peaceful use of outer space is at least hypocrisy.
Roskosmos reported yesterday, citing data from the American Mission Control Center, that the ISS was threatened by a collision with some kind of space debris. Because of this, the crew of the station had to take refuge in the Soyuz and Crew Dragon ships in case they had to urgently evacuate.
In 2007, China shot down a satellite in an orbit of 850 kilometers, causing according to organization Secure World Foundation, formed about 3 thousand debris. Many of them still remain in space. approves non-governmental organization Union of caring scientists.
By information Union of Concerned Scientists, as a result of a test of the American anti-satellite system in 1985, a large cloud of debris was also formed, but due to the fact that the satellite was at an altitude (525 kilometers), most of the debris burned up in the atmosphere within 10 years.
As a result of a test launch in 2008, the United States shot down the USA-193 satellite at an altitude of 273 kilometers.
Russia’s claims to the United States were previously related to weapons testing in space, but not to the formation of space debris as a result of testing.
In the case of the test launch of the Indian PDV MK-II interceptor missile in 2019, the target satellite was specially launched into a low orbit of 282 kilometers, and the satellite itself was relatively small.
How wrote expert Ashley Tellis, as a result of the Indian test, only 400 fragments were tracked, of which 270 were tracked. All burned up in the atmosphere in a few months.
The Russian satellite has now been shot down at an altitude of 500 kilometers, informs “Kommersant” with reference to the director of the project “Strategic nuclear weapons of Russia” Pavel Podvig.
By according to Seradat, as a result of tests of the Russian system, about 1,500 debris was formed, some of which will remain in orbit for decades.
Test without a target
Experts, with the help of which it was possible to test anti-satellite weapons, could be carried out without destroying a real spacecraft.
In fact, the launch of a ballistic missile is, in fact, a real point in space. There could be a satellite in it – and with the help of modern telemetry it was possible to track whether the missile hit the target or not.
“The example that we have here is the example of Moscow’s missile defense interceptors. launch missile from the Sary-Shagan training ground. She is launched into a clear sky. Launched – and watch how it flies. And they say: the conditional goal has been hit. It is clear that there is no ballistic missile there, “Podvig told the BBC.
Like another expert – a former officer of the main headquarters of the air defense forces – Mikhail Khodarenok, the military always want to check the system “in conditions close to combat”: “As always, the temptation is very great to check, but what is it really about?
“Spur negotiations and advance the rules of the game”
Responding to criticism from the United States, Lavrov recalled the proposals for the demilitarization of outer space: “We would prefer it to be violated instead of unfounded accusations, after all, we specifically sat down at the negotiating table and discussed their concerns about the treaty that Russia and China proposed for “To prevent this race used in the United States, it was very interesting to hear not excuses, but a specific reasoned position.”
For several years now Russia has been signing joint annexes on the non-deployment of the first weapons in space from countries that do not have large space programs – neither peaceful nor military. In addition to African, Latin American and Asian countries, America, such as signed, for example, with Armenia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and others.
These applications are made as part of the Russian non-deployment of weapons in space (NPOK) policy, which has existed since 2004.
The draft treaty was criticized by Western countries. The impression was finalized in 2014, but even in the finalized form, it does not suit Washington.
The Treaty provides for the deployment in outer space of weapons of any kind and for any forceful actions against space objects. It was submitted for consideration on disarmament, but so far Moscow and Beijing have not been able to organize a full-fledged discussion of it.
Alexander Ermakov, an expert at the Russian Center for MMD, does not exclude that the test with the destruction of the satellite “is also a political step – a desire to spur negotiations, in which we are trying to promote the rules of the game.”
“This step can be viewed as a bright and demonstrative invitation to negotiations, since the Americans have joined this,” the expert recalled. to the negotiating table.
Podvig also doubts that such a start-up can help the negotiation process: “Any person who knows at least something about how the negotiations are going will say that, having arranged this test, Russia has not moved itself a step towards“ agreement in this issue “.
Now, according to him, the Americans have an argument in support of the thesis that Russia, in words advocating disarmament, is in fact engaged in the development of anti-satellite systems.
Are anti-satellite weapons effective?
According to Hyunok, anti-satellite weapons can be very effective, since the combat effectiveness of any modern armed forces depends on the satellite constellation.
“The global navigation system or missile attack warning systems, multiple communication systems, meteorological satellites – without that, high-precision weapons without a modern satellite constellation are a heap of scrap metal,” explained Khodarenok.
According to Ermakov, satellites in geostationary orbits, which are located high above the ground, can be considered more complex. It will be necessary to destroy such devices with the help of fighter satellites, and this will require more funds than the fight against low-flying devices.
In general, the cost of anti-satellite systems, as experts say, is the weak point of this type of weapon. The feat cited as an example a possible task of neutralizing a satellite navigation system. According to him, it is necessary to simultaneously destroy a significant part of the satellites. It will not be easy to do this, but fixing, launching 10 new devices is relatively easy.