12.11.2021

According to preliminary data, the maneuver has raised the station’s orbit by around 1.2 kilometers

The orbit of the International Space Station (ISS) has been adjusted to avoid a collision with a fragment of the Chinese spacecraft Fengyun-1C, Russia’s State Space Corporation Roscosmos said in a statement on Wednesday.

"The orbital altitude of the ISS was raised on Wednesday evening to avoid a conjunction with space debris. According to preliminary data, the maneuver has raised the station’s orbit by around 1.2 kilometers," the statement said.

The ISS used the thrusters of the Progress MS-18 cargo ship, which is docked to the station, to conduct the maneuver. The thrusters were fired at 23.15 Moscow Time.

According to the data of the Main Information and Analytical Center of the Automated Warning System of Hazardous Situations in near-Earth Space, the minimal distance between the ISS and the space junk could have equaled slightly over 600 meters.

As Roscosmos told TASS earlier, a fragment of the Chinese Fengyun-1C weather satellite would approach the orbital outpost at about 04:00 Moscow time on November 12.

The Fengyun-1C is a Chinese weather satellite. On January 11, 2007 China successfully tested its anti-satellite weapon. The FY-1C weather satellite of the Fengyun series orbiting at an altitude of 865 km was destroyed by a direct hit of an anti-satellite missile launched from a mobile launcher at the Xichang space center.

Quelle: TASS