The Test

2021 Nov 15, Russia launched an interceptor missile at an old Soviet satellite - Cosmos 1402 that had been in orbit since 1982.

The Russian government said the test did not pose a danger to the ISS but the Russian military failed to inform Mission Control in Moscow of the event. With the sudden appearance of a cloud of orbital debris of unknown origin, the ISS crew was instructed to close all internal station hatches and retreat to the safety of their Soyuz spacecraft while the threat was assessed.


The Plot

The plot above is a Gabbard diagram showing the apogee and perigee distribution of the fragments, a number of which pose a distinct threat to both the International Space Station and the Chinese Space Station.

It is updated periodically as new data becomes available from Space-Track. The date/time stamp shows when the current plot was generated.