On November 15, 2021, the Russian Ministry of Defense conducted a test of an anti-satellite (ASAT) missile known as the “Nudol” anti-ballistic missile system, destroying one of its own satellites.
The missile was aimed at Cosmos 1408, a 1,750-kilogram satellite that has not been operational since the 1980s. The collision destroyed the satellite and created a cloud of space debris (~1500 pieces), increasing the amount of space junk by 10%.
Fearing a collision with debris, astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) took refuge in space shuttles for more than two hours, ready to leave the ISS in the event of an emergency.
Several nations have tested ASAT technologies over the years, including the United States in
2006, China in 2007, Russia in 2016 and India in 2019. In its earlier tests, Russia aimed its
weapons at an imaginary point in space, as if it were a satellite.
However, this is the first test of its kind by Russia, where a satellite was intercepted with the ASAT system, implying that the test mission actually impacted and destroyed a satellite. This debris will remain in orbit for many years, posing problems for other satellites in orbit as well as the astronauts living on the space station.