Russia’s Defense Ministry denied Tuesday that it had endangered astronauts aboard the International Space Station with a weapons test.
While the agency confirmed it had destroyed a defunct space satellite on Monday that had been in orbit since 1982, the ministry claimed the resulting fragments “did not and will not pose a threat to orbital stations, spacecraft and space activities.” The agency also claimed the United States was aware of the situation and called U.S. officials’ protests “hypocritical,” according to the Associated Press.
“The Russian Defense Ministry sees the statements by the Department of State and the Pentagon as hypocritical, which attempted to blame the Russian Federation for creating ‘risks’ for the cosmonauts of the International Space Station and urging to ‘develop universal norms that the global community will use in space exploration,’” the military agency stated, according to TASS.
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State Department spokesman Ned Price said Monday that Russia’s anti-satellite weapon test generated “over 1,500 pieces of trackable orbital debris,” condemning the test as “dangerous and irresponsible behavior.”
“Russia’s dangerous and irresponsible behavior jeopardizes the long-term sustainability of outer space and clearly demonstrates that Russia’s claims of opposing the weaponization of space are disingenuous and hypocritical,” Price told reporters.
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ISS astronauts were ordered to take cover from the space debris that passed by on early Monday morning. After the debris passed a second time, astronauts were allowed to return to the station, with no signs of collision with the debris.
John Kirby, the senior spokesman for the Pentagon, said in a briefing Monday the U.S. would “watch closely the kinds of capabilities that Russia seems to want to develop.”
