Russian satellite collides with Chinese space debris from ASAT test

http://www.geostrategy-direct.com/geostrategy-direct/secure/2013/03_20/ba.asp?

 

Russian satellite collides with Chinese space debris from ASAT test

On Jan. 22, a Russian nanosatellite known as the Ball Lens In The Space [BLITS] was hit and severely damaged by a piece of space junk created by a Chinese test that awakened the U.S. national security world to Beijing's anti-satellite capability and intentions.

A graphic shows how debris from a Chinese anti-satellite program (red arc) test hit a Russian satellite.   Analytical Graphics, Inc.

Six years earlier, on Jan. 11, 2007, the Chinese military fired an anti-satellite missile [ASAT] into space and intentionally destroyed the country's Fengyun 1C satellite, creating the largest space junk belt in human history.

A small piece from the lethal debris collided with the Russian scientific research spacecraft, as confirmed by the Colorado Springs-based Center for Space Standards & Innovation [CSSI].

The Russian BLITS retroreflector satellite weighs 17 lb. and was hit by the Chinese space debris traveling at the speed of 9.7 km/second.

The Russian media has remained mostly silent on the news. But Chinese state-run media blamed the motive of the American disclosure of the crash.

"When the blame, criticism and threat come from the U.S., we all have to ask ourselves: what is the Americans' real purpose of doing so?" said the Communist Party-run Global Times, citing an alleged comment from an unnamed Russian website.