A dead Russian satellite broke into more than 100 pieces in space

A decommissioned Russian satellite fractured in space Wednesday, creating a cloud of debris in low Earth orbit that prompted astronauts aboard the International Space Station to take protective measures.

The satellite, which was orbiting about 220 miles above the ground, broke apart into more than 100 shards, according to an announcement Thursday by U.S. Space Command, a Defense Department agency that executes military operations in space. Space Command added in its statement that there were “no immediate threats,” and that assessments of the situation were ongoing.

Known as Resurs P1, the satellite was launched in 2013 by Russia to observe Earth and produce imagery from space to assist with agriculture, meteorology, transportation and other purposes. Russia retired Resurs P1 in 2022. Since then, the satellite had slowly been losing altitude.

Roscosmos, the Russian space agency and the former operator of the defunct satellite, did not respond to a request for comment.

Resurs P1’s destruction added to a growing amount of space junk – which includes dead satellites, lost tool bags and much more – around Earth. NASA estimates that more than 25,000 pieces of debris wider than 4 inches are currently in orbit, and the number grows to more than 100 million when much smaller objects are counted. Experts see space debris accumulation as a risk to future space operations, and there are projects being developed to remove larger items from orbit.

The fragmenting of the Resurs P1 satellite was detected and announced Wednesday by LeoLabs, an organization that tracks the safety of satellites orbiting Earth. But why the event occurred is still unknown.

Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Harvard & Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics who maintains a public catalog of orbiting shrapnel in space, said an internal explosion of a long-dead battery inside the satellite could be one explanation. Another possibility is that Resurs P1 collided with a piece of space junk.

“It’s getting crowded out there,” McDowell said.

Resurs P1’s fracture may have moved some of its debris into an orbit high enough to endanger the thousands of Starlink internet satellites operated by SpaceX, or even the International Space Station.

Just after 9 p.m. Eastern time, NASA ordered the nine astronauts aboard the International Space Station to move to safe areas as “a standard precautionary measure,” according to a post on social platform X. After an hour, the crew members resumed their normal activities.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.