BENGALURU: India’s CARTOSAT-2F remote sensing satellite is “dangerously close” to a Russian Earth observation satellite (Kanopus-V) in close Earth orbit, and space agencies in both countries are closely monitoring them .
Russia’s space agency Roscosmos said on Friday that according to the main information and analysis center TsNIIMash of the Automated Warning System for Dangerous Situations in Near-Earth Space (part of Roscosmos), CARTOSAT The 2F satellite weighing more than 700 kg came dangerously close to the Russian Kanopus-V spacecraft on November 27, 2020 at 01:49 UTC.
“According to TsNIIMash’s calculations, the minimum distance between Russian and foreign satellites was 224 meters. Both spacecraft are designed for remote sensing from Earth,” Roscosmos said.
However, to allay fears, the president of Isro K Sivan told TOI: “We have been tracking the satellite for four days and it is about 420 meters from the Russian satellite. Only one maneuver will be made when it reaches about 150 meters, “Isro president K Sivan told TOI.
Sivan added that these things are not uncommon when satellites are in similar low-Earth orbits. The general practice, he said, is for the two agencies to argue and decide to carry out a maneuver.
“… Recently, there was a situation with a satellite belonging to Spain and it was resolved. These things are not generally made public, “Sivan added.
The CARTOSAT-2F was launched from the first lanuch platform in Sriharikota on January 12, 2018 and is still operational.
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