spacetoday.net: Russian satellite may have collided with Chinese ASAT debris

Russian satellite may have collided with Chinese ASAT debris

Posted: Sat, Mar 9, 2013, 10:43 AM ET (1543 GMT)
A small Russian satellite may have collided in January with debris from a 2007 Chinese antisatellite weapons test, according to an analysis of orbital data by a US company. AGI reported Friday that BLITS, a 7.5-kilogram Russian nanosatellite launched in 2009, suffered a sudden change in its orbit on January 22, causing the satellite's altitude to drop by 120 meters and its spin rate and attitude to change. That change in the satellite's orbit coincides with a close approach by a piece of debris from the Chinese weather satellite Fengyun 1C, destroyed by a Chinese ASAT weapon in a test in 2007.