For the first time in history, two satellites US communications satellite owned by the Iridium Company and a Russian military satellite called Cosmos 2251 have collided in space.
NASA spokesman John Yembrick said: “The unprecedented crash happened 491 miles above Siberia and the resultant debris now poses a risk to other satellites as well as the International Space Station, but "within acceptable limits".
It's the first crash of its kind, but NASA says it doesn't pose a threat to the International Space Station.
"We are looking at around more than 500 pieces of debris," said Navy Lieutenant Charlie Drey, a spokesman with US Strategic Command.
The accident occurred on Tuesday, 10th February at 1655 GMT creating a massive explosion with much debris scattering through space. It’s still unclear what caused the collision, which has become the first-ever involving two intact satellites.
The privately-owned American satellite - Iridium - was launched in 1997 and used for satellite telephone networks. The Russian Cosmos satellite was launched in 1993 and, according to NASA and Pentagon officials, had been non-operational for about 10 years.
According to NASA, debris creates some small risk to the ISS, which is located below the orbit where the accident took place. However, it will take several weeks before the full magnitude of the collision is determined.
There have been minor collisions in space before, but the scale of this crash is unprecedented. The satellites - one weighing about a tonne, the other almost 600 kilogram’s – crashed at a speed of 670 km per minute. Officials said the incident will be investigated and analyzed.
Officials note that there are many hundreds of satellites in space and no ‘road rules’ regarding their orbits, therefore some people believe such accidents could have been expected.
Charles Vick, a space expert at globalsecurity.org said: “International standard for disposing of space debris should be created. It certainly is likely to happen again since we underestimated the potential of this type of accident, but we really shouldn’t have done so”.
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