In Wake of ASAT Test, Roscosmos Says it’s in Favor of Space Safety
Russia broke its silence on Tuesday after the country’s military destroyed a non-functional satellite and sent cosmonauts and astronauts scrambling to the safety of vehicles that would take them back to Earth as the International Space Station flew near a cloud of debris.
While the Ministry of Defense boasted about the test’s accuracy, downplayed the dangers and accused the United States of ratcheting up military tensions in space, Roscosmos published a bland statement that basically said: Space safety? We’re in favor of it!
Russia’s space industry is a pioneer in crewed spaceflights and has been continuously working with international partners in this area for many decades.
Dozens of joint flights to the Mir orbital station and the International Space Station have created the conditions for reliable cooperation and international collaboration even in the most complex situations.
The productivity and effectiveness of joint work is confirmed by numerous cases of mutual assistance and support to multinational crews in orbit and mutual assistance of specialists on the ground within the joint work on the unprecedented and grandiose ISS project.
Ensuring crew safety has always been and remains our top priority.
Commitment to this principle is an underlying condition both in the manufacturing of Russian space equipment and in the program of its operation.
We are convinced that only joint efforts by all spacefaring nations can ensure the safest possible coexistence and activities in outer space.
The Russian Automated Warning System on Hazardous Situations in Outer Space (ASPOS OKP) continues monitoring the situation to prevent and counter all possible threats to the safety of the International Space Station and its crew.
They’re on it. That’s nice to hear. Except, it’s the Russian military that conducted the test. So, Roscosmos isn’t really in charge.
The United States has said the destruction of the 39-year old military reconnaissance satellite has created 1,500 large pieces of debris and many smaller ones. Just how much of a threat those pose to future operations of the space station and other satellites will be seen in the months and years ahead.
7 responses to “In Wake of ASAT Test, Roscosmos Says it’s in Favor of Space Safety”
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Yes, nothing like some good old communist doublespeak…
yes exactly what a joke, the Russians are making their usual bs
During the INF negotiations in the 80’s the Soviet’s admitted that deployment of the SS-20/Pioneer IRBM was not under civilian control, but rather the divisional commanders, and they had no DOE to maintain physical ownership of weapons before they were transferred to the various combat commands. At first the Soviets had no means of taking ownership of a weapons from a combat command and no means of controlling their physical custody. My bet is this is much along the same lines. This ASAT was under development of a specific OKB and probably one combat command. It might even be Air Defense and not the Space Force. If so, there is probably no history of Air Defense talking to Roscosmos, maybe not even Space Force.
That was a crock of shit in the 80s and it’s a crock of shit now. But you’re hardly alone on these forums in making “If only Stalin knew this was going on…”-type excuses for Russian bad behavior.
Oh really? Then who did make deployment orders and who physically transferred the weapons and delivery systems to the combat units? Be specific. Name the bureaus. I’m totally open to be proven wrong. This is a subject that I find entertaining. So go for it.
The SS-20 was developed for a very specific purpose – cowing Western Europe. It wasn’t developed at the behest of divisional commanders or by divisional commanders. The whole thing was a grand strategic exercise and was done on orders from the top. So were the deployments.
In Wake of ASAT Rape in LEO, Roscosmos Says it’s in Favor of Space Chastity.
There, fixed that headline for you.