On November 15, 2021, the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation reported a successful test that hit the inactive Russian spacecraft Tselina-D, which had been in orbit since 1982.

The Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation further states that “The United States knows for a fact that the fragments produced during the tests did not and will not pose a threat to orbital stations, spacecraft and space activities in terms of test time and orbital parameters.”

The fragments are entered in the main catalog of the national space control system and are immediately taken up for tracking until they are destroyed. Previously, similar tests in outer space have already been conducted by the United States, China and India.”

Earlier, Western sources, citing data from the US Space Forces as saying that on the morning of November 15, Russia conducted an anti-satellite weapon test, hitting an old inactive Soviet Kosmos-1408 series 11F619 Tselina-D radio reconnaissance satellite in orbit since 1982 with a ground-based missile. The typical orbit of the Tselina-D series satellites was at an altitude of 544-566 km.

The destruction of the Kosmos-1408 satellite resulted in a significant amount of debris, which, according to the United States, threaten the spacecraft of other countries and the International Space Station (ISS). Warnings were issued to the ISS on the morning of 15 and 16 October about the possibility of a collision with space debris.

The US State Department issued the following statement:

“On November 15, 2021, the Russian Federation recklessly conducted a destructive test of a ground-launched anti-satellite missile on one of its own satellites.

Currently, more than one and a half thousand traceable orbital debris have been generated during this test, and hundreds of thousands of pieces of smaller orbital debris are likely to be formed. The long-lived debris generated by this dangerous and irresponsible test will now threaten satellites and other space objects that are vital to the security, economic and scientific interests of all countries for decades to come.

In addition, it will significantly increase the risk to astronauts and cosmonauts on the International Space Station and other human activities in space flights. This test negligently endangered the safety of all participants seeking to explore and use outer space for peaceful purposes.

The events of 15 November 2021 clearly demonstrate that Russia, despite its claims to oppose the militarisation of outer space, is prepared to jeopardise the long-term sustainability of outer space and endanger the exploration and use of outer space by all nations through its reckless and irresponsible behaviour.

The United States will work with our allies and partners to try to respond to this irresponsible act. We call on all responsible spacefaring nations to join us in efforts to develop norms of responsible behaviour and to refrain from conducting dangerous and irresponsible disruptive tests like those conducted by Russia.”

From the bmpd, we point out that, apparently, on November 15, the first practical test of the anti-satellite interceptor missile of the advanced anti-missile and anti-space defence system (long-range interceptor missile system with a space-based missile) Nudol was conducted on a real space target.

The Nudol rocket was launched from the State Test Cosmodrome of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation (Plesetsk Cosmodrome) in the Arkhangelsk region and, as already mentioned, successfully struck the old inactive Soviet radio reconnaissance satellite Cosmos-1408 of the series 11F619, Tselina-D, which has been in orbit since 1982.

The Russian side issued a NOTAM navigation warning in advance which closed a number of areas in the Barents Sea and the Laptev Sea to flights from 15 to 17 November. The closures were related to rocket launches from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome.

Previously, according to American data, nine test launches of the Nudol missile complex were carried out, but without engaging a real target:

• A launch on August 12, 2014 – from the Plesetsk test site – according to the US Department of Defence it was unsuccessful, but according to the web resource planet4589.org, it was successful;
• A launch on April 22, 2015 – Plesetsk – according to the US Department of Defence and web resource planet 4589.org, it was unsuccessful;
• A launch of November 18, 2015 – Plesetsk – it was successful;
• A launch of 25 May 2016 – Plesetsk – it was successful;
• A launch of December 16, 2016 – from a “base in the central part of Russia” (Kapustin Yar polygon?) – it was successful;
• A launch of March 26, 2018 – Plesetsk – from a standard mobile launcher (previous launches were made from test launchers) – it was successful;
• A launch of December 23, 2018 – Plesetsk – from a standard mobile launcher – it was successful;
• A launch of April 15, 2020 – Plesetsk – from a standard mobile launcher – the success was not reported (apparently successful);
• A launch of 16 December 2020 – Plesetsk – from a standard mobile launcher – success was not reported (apparently successful).

Regarding both 2020 launches, the United States did not report an assessment of their success, but judging by the angry releases of the US Space Forces about “Russian aggression”, in both cases the tests were also successful.

The 14Ts033 Nudol complex is being developed by JSC Almaz-Antey Concern under contracts with the Russian Ministry of Defence dated August 2009 and April 2015. The core element of the Nudol is the 14A042 solid-fuel rocket developed by JSC OKB Novator (Ekaterinburg), housed on the 14P222 mobile launcher (on the chassis of the MZKT 12×12).

According to Western data, the 14A042 missile is equipped with a kinetic interceptor with a multispectral electro-optical homing head (MOEGSN, 14Sh129, developed by the JSC A.E. Nudelman Precision Engineering Design Bureau). The complex also uses a 14P078 mobile command and control unit (on the MZKT chassis).

The targeting of the complex is provided by a 14Ts031 stationary radar for detecting small-sized space objects (object 20Yu6), deployed near the city of Chekhov in the Moscow region. In the future, it is believed that the complex should include its own mobile target designation and guidance radar.

It is worth mentioning that the last time the USSR tested an anti-satellite system on a real target in space was on June 18, 1982, when the IS-MU ground anti-satellite system (using the 11K69 Cyclone-2 launcher with the 14F10 interceptor satellite with the designation Kosmos-1379), successfully hit the target satellite Kosmos-1375 in an orbit about 1000 km high.

It should also be mentioned that, apparently, the practical height of hitting a space target at an orbital altitude of 500-550 km demonstrated during the Nudol complex test on November 15 indicates that orbital aircraft of the American Boeing X-37B type, whose orbit height is in the range of 400-500 km, are considered one of the main potential targets of this complex.

The newspaper Vedomoski published an article by Alexei Nikolsky and Ilya Lakstygal “The Ministry of Defence has acknowledged the tests of an anti-satellite missile. Test results do not threaten the ISS, the military says,” which states that the Russian Ministry of Defence has issued a statement stating that there are no threats to the International Space Station (ISS) as a result of the Russian anti-satellite weapons tests.

The statements by American officials who called these tests dangerous, were called “hypocritical” in the press release of the Ministry of Defence, as the Americans, according to the Russian military, know that these tests do not pose any threat.

The Ministry of Defence confirmed that the target of the tests was the Soviet reconnaissance satellite Tseline-D, which had been out of service for several decades.

These tests, during which an officially unnamed anti-satellite rocket launched from the Plesetsk cosmodrome, took place on November 15. Charles Borden, director of the American Aerospace Agency NASA, called them irresponsible and posing a threat to the ISS and spacecraft, as the target was in orbit just a few dozens of kilometers above the ISS orbit, with the orbits of Tselina-D and the ISS being in different planes. Representatives of the US State Department and the US Defence ministry also condemned the tests.

The test that took place destroying a satellite by launching a missile from Earth is not a routine event, says Aleksandr Ermakov, an expert of the Russian Council on International Affairs (RCIA). It is only the fourth test of this kind in the post-Cold War period – Chinese, American and Indian tests have previously been carried out consecutively.

Such weapons can be tested with a launch at a notional point, by and large, with almost the same result for the programme, but this is not as “spectacular” as firing at a real target, he says.

It is difficult to assess Russia’s progress in anti-satellite weapons based on open data, but we are at least on par with China and the United States, and maybe even higher, according to missiles launched from the ground, he continues. “Creating a potential physical threat not only to other satellites, but also to the ISS makes this fireworks display the most epic compared to previous tests of other countries,” says Ermakov.

At the same time, anti-satellite weapons at the present stage, when the military use of space is becoming increasingly important, are very promising and will be developed by all players who are capable of it, the expert concludes.

Anti-missile systems can be used as anti-satellite weapons, says Dmitri Stefanovich of the Institute of World Economy and International Relations of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IWEIR RAS) – it is easier to fight satellites than to destroy enemy missiles. In recent years, the…