Vladimir Putin embarrassed as 'space debris' from Russian satellite breaks into pieces

International Space Station astronauts were forced to shelter

A Russian satellite has reportedly left President Vladimir Putin red-faced after it broke into over 100 pieces. The space debris, unceremoniously released by the old satellite, forced astronauts on the International Space Station to retreat to their respective spacecraft for safety.

They remained sheltered for more than an hour before they could safely resume their work, according to NASA. LeoLabs, a service that provides independent monitoring for satellites, posted on X in the early hours of June 27 that it had detected a "debris-generating event in Low Earth Orbit".

The message further stated that the satellite producing the fragments could be the non-operational Russian spacecraft Resurs P1, reports the Express. The fragments, the service said, were released between 1.05 pm UTC on June 26 and 12.51 am UTC on June 27.

The 6.5-tonne satellite, which was declared defunct by Russia in 2022, remains in Earth's orbit, as reported by the Ukrainian Pravda. The US Space Command reassured that the incident presented "no immediate threats."

For all the latest news straight to your inbox, sign up for our FREE newsletters here.

It is still unclear what caused the Resurs P1 to break into pieces. In 2021, Russia hit one of its non-operational satellites with a ground-based missile. There was no immediate indication that the same thing happened this week.

According to the UCS Satellite Database, there are 6,542 satellites in space - nearly half of which are inactive. The majority of this fleet is US-made, with more than the total 2,900 satellites being American.

Almost 500 satellites currently in orbit are Chinese, 450 are British and only 167 are Russian. These nations have been actively participating in space exploration and host numerous commercial satellite firms.

For the latest local news and features on Irish America, visit our homepage here.