This is a precise maneuver

The Earth’s orbit is becoming increasingly congested. Various space agencies are proposing methods to clean up this space, saturated with debris and disused satellites, while increasing the number of launches. However, the risk of collision appears to be increasing, as evidenced by recent activity on the International Space Station, which involved Spain, which had to change its orbit. twice in less than a week.

This Monday, November 25, the Russian Progress 89 spacecraft once again acted as a tug to the ISS to slightly raise its orbit and avoid a collision with a piece of space debris. This was reported by NASA in a summary of the station’s activities, which also mentioned the strong odor that alerted astronauts from that same spacecraft.

Its engines caught fire for about 3.5 minutes. Thus, IS managed to raise its orbit by only 500 meters, This was reported by the Russian state news agency TASS. This was enough to push the satellite fragment approaching the station out of its path.

This is the second time in less than a week that the ISS has performed this maneuver. Last Tuesday, November 19, debris from a decommissioned military weather satellite that disintegrated in 2015 forced the Progress 89 spacecraft to fire its engines for 5.5 minutes. Without this maneuver, officials estimate the fragment could have passed within 4 kilometers of the station.

These types of movements are necessary from time to time, but will become more common over time. According to a NASA report, the ISS conducted 32 evasive maneuvers from 1999 to 2022. However, the frequency with which they are needed is increasing due to the growing amount of debris – the product of human activity in space. Space.com reports this. In March 2023, the ISS dodged space debris twice in a week.an event that has been repeated.

Low Earth orbit, where the space station is located, is becoming increasingly crowded. According to the European Space Agency (ESA), there are currently about 10,200 active satellites in orbit around the planet. The European Agency also indicates that there are about 40,500 objects in Earth orbit with a width of at least 10 centimeters, 1.1 million with a diameter of 1 to 10 centimeters, and 130 million objects with a width of at least 1 millimeter.

This figure is increasing as satellite constellations designed to provide internet connectivity from space, such as Starlink with more than 6,000 active satellites, grow. Also its namesake, recently launched by China, “Constellation of a Thousand Candles”.