American satellite may collide with Soviet rocket in space
The European Union Space Surveillance and Tracking System (EUSST) warned of a possible collision in space between a non-functioning American meteorological satellite and a spent stage of a Soviet launch vehicle.
The system's Twitter page says that a collision of objects can occur today at 20:18 Moscow time in an orbit with an altitude of about 800 kilometers. The collision probability is 20%. If it happens, more than four million debris could form in orbit.
According to another forecast, a satellite and a rocket could fly past each other at a distance of 21 meters. On Twitter, American astronautics expert Jonathan McDowell wrote that the approach of objects is expected over Chukotka.
The second stage of the Soviet rocket “Kosmos-3M” was launched in May 1981. The DMSP meteorological apparatus was launched into space even earlier, in May 1978.
In March, it was reported that the inoperative US weather satellite NOAA 17, launched in June 2002, exploded in space. The explosion produced 16 debris.
