Terrible terrible thing to do: NASA on India’s satellite destruction

Washington, Apr 02: NASA has said that India's destruction of one of its satellites was a terrible thing that had created 400 pieces of orbital debris and led to new dangers for astronauts aboard the International Space Station.

Head of NASA, Jim Bridenstine said that not all of the pieces were big enough to track. What we are tracking right now are objects big enough to track. The Indian satellite was destroyed at a relatively low altitude of 300 km, well below the ISS and most satellites in orbit. 24 of the pieces are going above the apogee of the ISS, he also said.

That is a terrible, terrible thing to create an event that sends debris at an apogee that goes above the International Space Station. That kind of activity is not compatible with the future of human spaceflight, he further said.

It is unacceptable and NASA needs to be very clear about what its impact is to us, he further said.

In 2018, the UNIDIR proposed three ASAT test guidelines. Under the 'No Debris' guideline, if an actor wishes to test ASAT capabilities, they should not create debris.