Author: admin

          In the early 1980s, India began work on the Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle. The ASLV design was based on the Satellite Launch Vehicle used in the 1970s to launch Indian space missions. It consisted of five solid fuel rocket stages and was able to carry a three hundred and thirty pound satellite into a two hundred and fifty mile orbit. The ASLV was only used four times. The first launch was in 1987 and was successful. The next two launches in 1988 and 1992 failed and the final launch in 1994 took the satellite into a lower orbit than intended. The failure of the ASLV three times in a row led to that abandonment of that design.
         In the early 1990s, India developed the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle. This launch vehicle had four stages with the first and the third being solid fuel and the second and fourth stages employing liquid fuel. It was originally developed so that India could launch Indian Remote Sensing into sun synchronous orbits. Prior to the development of the PSLV, India could only launch IRS satellites on Russian launch vehicles. The PSLV has also been utilized to send small satellites into geostationary transfer orbits. The first launch of the PSLV took place in 1993. The PSLV has launched thirty Indian satellites and thirty five foreign satellites. The PSLV has been highly successful and is still in use today.
         There are a number of different models of the PSLV. The standard version is known simply as the PSLV. It has six strap on solid fuel boosters in addition to the four stage main rocket. It can carry thirty seven hundred pound payloads into two hundred and fifty mile orbits.
          The PSLV-CA does not have the six strap on boosters. It also carries less fuel in the fourth stage. It can carry twenty two hundred pound payloads into two hundred and twenty mile orbits.
           The PSLV-XL carries strap on solid fuel boosters that contain more fuel than the PSLV boosters. It can lift a payload that weighs four thousand pounds into two hundred and twenty mile orbits.
           The first flight of the PSLV-XL carried the Chandrayaan-1 into space. Chandrayaan translates as “moon vehicle.” The satellite was launched from the Sriharikota launch center on October 22, 2008. It achieved lunar orbit on November 8, 2008. Multiple payloads were carried by the Chandrayaan including five Indian packages and six packages for other sources including NASA, ESA, and the Bulgarian Space Agency. It carried remote sensing equipment for visible light, near infrared and hard X-ray frequency. The mission objectives included three dimensional mapping of lunar topography and a mapping of lunar chemical composition. On November 14, 2008, the Moon Impact Probe separated from the Chandrayaan-1 lunar orbiter and crashed into the south pole of the moon. The lunar soil that was ejected was analyzed for the presence of ice. The Chandrayaan-1 managed to function for three hundred and twelve days out of the intended two years and completed ninety five percent of its mission objectives.
       On November 5, 2013, the three thousand pound Mars Orbiter Mission satellite was launched with a PSLV-XL from Sriharikota launch center. It is India’s first attempt at an interplanetary mission. It spent a month in Earth orbit carrying out maneuvering tests. On November 30, 2013, the MOM left Earth orbit and headed for Mars. As of April 2014, the MOM had made it half way to Mars. Its mission objects included reaching Mars and entering into orbit, as well as testing deep-space communication, navigation, mission planning, management and the ability of autonomous systems to handle contingent situations. It also contains instruments to “explore Mars’ surface features, morphology, mineralogy and the Martian atmosphere using indigenous scientific instruments.”
Artist’s conception of the Mars Orbital Mission:

Mars Orbital Mission.png

        In 1975, the Indian Space Research Organization built India’s first satellite, Aryabhata which was launched by the Soviet Union. Aryabhata was a test project for India to gain experience in the construction and launching of satellites. It had an orbital period of about one hundred minutes and the orbit reached a maximum altitude of about three hundred and fifty miles. It’s instrument package conducted experiments in X-ray astronomy, aeronomics and solar physics. A power system malfunction ended the mission after about sixty orbits.
         During the 1970s, the ISRO worked on the development of an Indian launch vehicle because India did not want to be dependent on other nations to launch satellites. The Satellite Launch Vehicle was the first result of this project. It was designed to reach altitudes of over two hundred and fifty miles and could carry a payload of about ninety pounds. The SLV was a four stage solid fuel rocket. The first SLV was launched from the new launch facility at Sriharkiota in 1979.
         In 1979, India used a SLV-3 to launch the Rohini Technology Payload, the first Indian satellite carried into space by an Indian launch vehicle. The SLV-3 was unable to place the satellite into the intended orbit. The Rohini Technology Payload was the first of a series of four satellites. In 1980, the RS-1 was launched successfully on a SLV-3. It had instruments to return data on the fourth stage of the SLV-3. It’s mission lasted for twenty months. In 1981, the RS-D1 was carried into space by a SLV-3 but did not reach its intended orbit. It carries a camera to test remote sensing applications and its mission only lasted nine days. In 1983, the RS-D2 was launched with a SLV-3. During its seventeen month mission, its Smart sensor camera took over twenty five hundred pictures in both the visible and infrared band.
         In 1981, the Ariane Passenger Payload Experiment satellite was built to gain experience in communication satellites in geosynchronous orbit. It was carried into orbit by the Ariane-1, a launch vehicle developed by the European Space Agency launched from French Guiana. In 1982, a U.S. Delta 3910 PAM-D launch vehicle carried the first satellite of the Indian National Satellite System into geosynchronous orbit. The INSAT is a multipurpose geo-stationary satellite for use in telecommunications, broadcasting, meteorology and search and rescue. It only functioned for six months.
       Throughout the 1980s, India continued to launch its own satellites and to have satellites launched by other nations. The Soviet Union launched a pair of Bhaskara remote sensing satellites, one in 1979 and the other in 1981. They were placed in orbit by C-1 Interkosmos launch vehicles. The United States continued to provide and launch INSAT communication satellites which permitted a revolution in television programming delivery in India. India attempted to launch two members of the Stretched Rohini Satellite Series but both failed to achieve orbit.
India’s first indigenously built satellite, the Aryabhatta:

Indian Aryabhatta Satellite.png

         Atmospheric and space research in India began in the 1920s with ground based sounding of the ionosphere. Other researchers added to theoretical foundation of space science in the next two decades. In 1945, two scientists established research institutes, the Physical Research Laboratory and the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, which established an organized space research capability in India. Research into cosmic radiation, testing of airborne instruments, and studies of the upper atmosphere were carried out.
        In 1950, India created the Department of Atomic Energy which was used to fund space research at various research institutes across India. In this period, experiments were dedicated to meteorology and the Earth’s magnetic field. The Uttar Pradesh State Observatory was constructed in 1954 and the Rangpur Observatory was constructed in 1957. The United States provided technical support and scientific cooperation for these two observatories. IN 1957, the first Earth orbiting satellite, Sputnik 1, was launched by the Soviet Union.        
         India created the  Indian National Committee for Space Research in 1962 just five years after the launch of Sputnik 1. The Committee took over responsibility for space research from the Department of Atomic Energy. One of the major actions of the Committee was to establish the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station at Thumba, a fishing village on the southern tip of the Indian subcontinent. The Thumba location is close to the magnetic equator of the Earth. This makes it an ideal location for atmospheric research.
         At first, the circumstances were primitive on a site surrounded by groves of coconut palm. Offices were in an old church and a cattle shed was the assembly facility. The first sounding rocket was launched from Thumba in late 1963 carrying an instrument package on a suborbital flight. The United States, Great Britain, France and the USSR all assisted India in the development and launch of sounding rockets. In the next twelve years, three hundred and fifty sounding rockets were launched from Thumba.
         The INCOSPAR began developing the Rohini family of rockets for India. The name was taken from a favorite wife of Krishna. The different members of the family are designated by the letters RH for Rohini and a number that indicates the diameter of the rocket in millimeters. The first Rohini rocket, RH-75,  was launched in 1967 from Thumba. It weighted about seventy pounds and was about three inches in diameter. Fifteen of these were launched in 1967 and 1968.
        The Indian Space Research Organization was created in 1969 to replace INCOSPAR. ISRO is now one of the largest national space organizations in the world. The ISRO continued work on the Rohini family of rockets. In 1969, Sriharikota Island off the southeast coast of India was chosen for the development of a major new satellite launch center. Two years later, the new Sriharikota Launching Range went operational with the launch of a RH-125 sounding rocket. It was a two stage solid fuel rocket that carried a payload of fifteen pounds to an altitude of twelve miles.

India Thumba Church.png

           I have always been a fan of science fiction. This means that I have always been interested in space flight. Early on, man’s moves into space were referred to as the Space Race. This highlighted the fact that there was an intertwining of national prestige, available funding, public appreciation, military capability, utility and the universal urge to explore new realms. Advanced industrial nations competed with each other for the honors of first satellite in orbit, first manned flight to orbit, first space station, first satellite to the moon, first satellite to Mars and first manned moon landing. After the U.S. landed on the moon in 1969, enthusiasm and funding for U.S. space programs has waned. NASA is currently fighting for every dollar it can get to launch new missions.
         The development of the International Space Station marked a new era of cooperation for space-faring nations. The first module was launched in 1998. Both the United States and Russia have launched section of the ISS into low Earth orbit. “The ISS serves as a microgravity and space environment research laboratory in which crew members conduct experiments in biology, human biology, physics, astronomy, meteorology and other fields. The station is suited for the testing of spacecraft systems and equipment required for missions to the Moon and Mars.”
         Since Expedition 1 arrived at the ISS in November of 2000, the station has been continuously occupied now for thirteen years. It holds the record of occupation since it passed the Soviet Mir station record of ten years in 2010. “The station is serviced by a variety of visiting spacecraft: Soyuz, Progress, the Automated Transfer Vehicle, the H-II Transfer Vehicle, Dragon, and Cygnus. It has been visited by astronauts and cosmonauts from15 different nations.”
        The official ISS program is a cooperative project involving five space agencies bound by treaties and agreements. The United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Russian Federal Space Agency, the European Space Agency, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and the Canadian Space Agency are all involved in the ISS.
        As I said at the beginning of the post, the human foray into space is a complex interlinking of many factors. Since the United States ended its space shuttle program in 2011, the Russian Soyuz spacecraft are the only vehicles being used to ferry astronauts and supplies to and from the ISS. Now international politics are impacting the operation of the ISS.
        Since tensions have been rising in Ukraine and Russia is being subject to sanctions by the U.S. and other nations, the Russians have been retreating from the cooperation that made the ISS possible. At first, there was some effort to isolate the ISS cooperation agreement from the impact of the sanctions as NASA severed ties with Roskosmos but tried to retain cooperation on the ISS program. Now it appears as if the Russians will no longer allow the U.S. to use the Soyuz spacecraft to move U.S. astronauts to the station. The Russian Deputy Prime Minister who is a target of U.S. sanctions recently said that perhaps NASA should try using a trampoline to get U.S. astronauts to orbit.
       The U.S. does not plan to have manned launched capability until about 2017. If U.S. – Russian relations continue to deteriorate, the ISS program may be seriously impacted. This could lead to another space race to weaponize Earth orbit even though there are international treaties to prohibit such weaponization. Hopefully, the mess in the Ukraine can be peacefully resolved so the ISS program of peaceful cooperation in the exploration of space can continue. 
 
 

           In March of 2013, a presentation was made on China’s future in space to the People’s Congress and the Communist Central Committee. The presentation included an optimistic plan for a permanent space station and exploration beyond the Earth.
           The International Space Station is expected to be retired by 2020. China is planning on completing its first permanent space station in the same year. Unless another nation establishes a space station in the meantime, the Chinese station will be humanities only orbital base. The chief designer of the space station said that the Tiangong-2 station will be “multi-cabin with a large capacity and high power.” He said that it will be a national space lab with diverse and flexible experiments. He also said that “International cooperation will be encouraged and the door of the lab will be open for any experiments that fit the requirements.”
           A new cargo carrying space ship named Tianzhou is being designed to ferry materials and people to and from the station. China is planning on launching the cargo ship in 2016 to serve the Tiangong-2 space laboratory. The cargo ship will be launched into space on the new Long March-7 rocket. The ship will be able to dock with the Tiangong-2 automatically. The cargo ship is seen as the key to the development of the space station.
          The Long March Rocket series is seen as the basis of an industrial launch capacity. China is planning for two hundred and seventy domestic launches and four hundred and sixty launches carrying foreign payloads by 2020.
          The Yuanzheng-1 is a vessel that can be attached as a second stage to a carrier rocket from the Long March series. The Yuanzheng-1 itself can carry a spacecraft into orbit. It is also able to carry multiple craft into different orbits on one flight. The Yuanzheng-1 will play an important role in the exploration of the Moon and planets. It will also be useful for orbital transfers and could assist in dealing with space debris in Earth orbit.
          Preparations are already under way for the 2017 launch of Chang’e 5, the third phase of China’s lunar exploration. The Chang’e 5 rover will be able to dig up samples of lunar soil which will be returned to Earth for analysis. A Chang’e 5 test probe will be launched in 2014 as part of the preparations. In order to be successful, the Chang’e 5 will “require breakthroughs in moon surface takeoff technology, sampling encapsulation, rendezvous and docking in lunar orbit, as well as high-speed Earth reentry.”
         China is also looking ahead to launching satellites for the exploration of Mars and possibly even manned missions to Mars. The presentation to the Congress and Committee stated that the future of the human race lies beyond the Earth. It said that if the technological bottlenecks to human missions into space cannot be solved, then “the future of the whole species is bleak.”
Tiangong-2 Space Laboratory:

Tiangong 2.jpg

           The successful landing of the Jade Rabbit lunar rover on the Moon by China was the last mission of Phase II of the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program also known as the Chang’e program after a Chinese lunar goddess. There have been some technical problems with temperature changes and communications but the rover has been able to carry out some parts of its mission.
            The lander deposited the rover on the lunar surface on December 14th, 2013. During the first two week lunar day of the rover mission, the rover photographed the lander from several angles while the lander photographed the rover. All the equipment on the rover was tested and functioned properly. The rover deployed a robotic arm successfully. As lunar nightfall approached, the rover performed tests of readiness for shutting down and sleeping through the two week lunar night. The rover shut itself down on December 26th, 2013.
           On January 11, 2014, the command was sent for the rover to wake up. On January 16th, the rover carried out the first soil tests. On January 25th, the Chinese media announced that there were control problems with the rover. The rover would not respond correctly to commands sent from Earth. A circuit in the drive system of the rover had malfunctioned and the rover was unable to fold up its robotic arm and solar panels to prepare for the coming lunar night.
          At the end of the lunar night on February 12th, 2014, the expected signal from the rover that it had survived the lunar night was not received. In view of the lack of any communication from the rover, the Chinese declared that it was “permanently inoperative.” Contrary to the declaration, on the next day, signals were received from the rover. There were still mechanical control problems even thought the rover had reestablished communications. The rover could not move and there were problems with carrying out experiments. However, the ground penetrating radar, panoramic and infrared imaging equipment were still functioning. The rover entered sleep mode again on the February 22, 2013.
          By April of 2013, the rover had exceeded its expected life span of three months in spite of all the technical problems. Even though restriction to the same location will limit the use of the ground penetrating radar, panoramic and infrared imaging, the Chinese will continue to carry out as many experiments as possible as long as the rover continues to function. There is a website dedicated to the rover under the name of the Jade Rabbit Lunar Rover where users can view status updates and leave comments.
         Phase III of the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program consists of landing a rover on the Moon which can take up to four pounds of lunar soil samples that will then be returned to the Earth. The Chang’e mission calls for a launch on a Long March 5 rocket in 2017.
Chinese Jade Rabbit lunar rover:

Chinese Jade Rabbit rover.jpg

           The first phase of the Chinese Lunar Explorations Program consisted of two lunar orbiters, the Chang’e 1 and 2. These two orbiter were launched in 2007 and 2010. They generated highly detailed maps of the lunar surface in order to assist in the selection of a landing site for phase two.
           Phase II of the Chang’e program is dedicated to lunar landers and rovers. On December 1, 2013, the Chang’e 3 was launched on a Long March 3B rocket from Xichang Launch Complex 2. It took five days to reach the moon where it orbited at about sixty miles for eight days before landing successfully on the lunar surface. The landing site was in Mare Imbrium about twenty five miles south of the Laplace F crater.
          The one ton lander contained a three hundred pound rover called the Jade Rabbit. The lander has solar panels to power operations for the one year mission. It contains seven instruments and cameras. One of the cameras operates in the near-ultraviolet band around three hundred nanometers and will be used to take pictures of stars, galaxies and other astronomical phenomena. Another camera in the extreme ultraviolet around thirty nanometers will study the radiations belts around the Earth and how they are affected by solar activity.
           The Jade Rabbit rover has two solar panels to provide energy. It can transmit real time video as well as perform simple tests on soil samples. The rover shuts down during the two week lunar night and uses radioisotope heaters to prevent damage from the cold. The instrument packages were activated when the rover landed but all equipment was shut down from December 16 to December 20 because of problems with the heat differential caused by one side of the rover facing the sun and the other side covered in shadow. The rover was designed to explore an area of about one square mile during a three month mission with a maximum travel distance of about six miles. The rover survived its first two week lunar night, reestablishing communication with the command center on January 11, 2014.
          On January 25, 2014, it was announced that the rover had experienced a “mechanical control abnormality” due to the harsh lunar environment. Communication was reestablished in the middle of February but the rover was reported to still be suffering from a “mechanical abnormality.”
          The rover carries a ground penetrating radar to study the lunar surface. It can measure the depth and structure of the lunar soil to a depth of about one hundred feet. It is also capable of studying the structure of the lunar crust down to around one thousand feet. The rover also carries an X-ray spectrometer to detect alpha particles and an infrared spectrometer. These instruments are intended to analyze soils samples. The mast of the rover contains two panoramic cameras and two navigation cameras. Two additional cameras on the front of the rover are used to avoid obstacles in the cameras path.
Chang’e 3 lunar lander:

Chang’e 3.jpg

           The Chinese Lunar Exploration Program is a Chinese space program that has utilized and will utilize lunar orbiters, lunar landers, lunar rovers and lunar sample returners to explore the Moon. Chang’e is a Chinese lunar goddess. Ouyang Ziyuan is the chief scientist of the program. He is one of the first Chinese scientists to advocate exploitation of lunar helium-3 for future nuclear fusion reactors.
           The first mission for the Chang’e program was the Chang’e 1 lunar orbiter, launched on a Long March 3A rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in late October of 2007. During a twelve day trip to the Moon, the orbiter analyzed the solar wind between the Earth and the Moon. It entered a one hundred and twenty mile lunar orbit in early November of 2007 and began sending pictures back to earth. A map of the entire lunar surface was constructed from Chang’e 1 pictures taken between November 2007 and July 2008. The 3-D map from Chang’e 1 was  the most detailed such map yet created of the lunar surface. In addition to helium-3, the orbiter analyzed locations and abundance of aluminum, calcium, chromium, lanthanum, magnesium, manganese, oxygen, potassium, silicon,  sodium, uranium, tellurium, thorium and titanium. Many of these elements are important for manufacturing. In early 2009, the orbiter was taken out of lunar orbit and deliberately crashed into the surface of the Moon.
         A second lunar obiter, the Chang’e 2, was launched on October 2010 on a Long March 3C rocket. This satellite assumed a sixty mile orbit above the surface of the Moon after a five day travel time. The Chang’e 2 contained equipment similar to the Chang’e 1 instrument package with a few improvements and additions including a more accurate altimeter and a higher resolution camera. The map produced by the Chang’e 2 was more detailed and accurate than that produced by the Chang’e 1. One of the primary objectives of the Chang’e 2 mission was to assist in the choice of a landing site for the planned Chang’e 3 lunar orbiter, lander and rover launch in late 2013. The Chang’e 2 left lunar orbit in June of 2011 and flew to the second Earth-Sun Lagrangian point to test navigation. The L-2 point is a position beyond the orbit of the Earth where the gravity of the Earth just balances the additional orbital velocity of an object with a larger solar orbit. The bottom line is that an object in that location should maintain its relative position indefinitely as the Earth moves around the Sun.  The Chang’e 2 then left L-2 and flew past an asteroid named 4179 Toutatis, taking high resolution pictures. The Chang’e 2 continued on into deep space.
       The Chang’e 1 and Chang’e 2 constituted the first phase of Chinese lunar exploration. This phase consisted of satellites that just orbited the Moon. The second phase consistes of lunar landers and rovers. The third phase will include taking samples of the lunar surface and returning them to Earth.
Chang’1 and orbit:

Change 1 Lunar Orbiter.jpg

           The United States military utilizes low earth orbit satellites for guiding “smart” bombs, military communication networks and surveillance. The Chinese 2007 demonstration of the capability to destroy satellites in orbit showed that U.S. satellites were now vulnerable to destruction by countries which might be enemies in the future. The U.S. lodged a protest with the Chinese government over the test which destroyed an old Chinese weather satellite. The U.S. cited the test went against the “spirit of cooperation that both countries aspired to in the civil space area.” Australia, Canada, Britain, South Korea and Japan also complained about the test.
           Despite the formal complaints, the Bush Administration opposed an official ban on such tests because the U.S. might want to conduct such tests in the future. There is speculation that the Chinese test was intended to prod the U.S. into accepting a ban on orbital weapon tests. On the other hand, the Chinese might just have been flexing their muscles and showing that they were ready to engage in the use of space for military purposes. The timing of the Chinese test is interesting. A few months before the test, the Bush Administration had announced that the U.S. reserved the right to respond to any threat in space. The right of the U.S. to deny access to space by hostile nations was also asserted. There have been accusations that the U.S. has been secretly testing laser weapons that could disable or destroy a satellite.
          In 1967 the U.S. and the Soviet Union signed the Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies. One hundred and two countries have signed the treaty as of 2013. One section of the treaty deals with the militarization of space. States that sign the treaty are prohibited from “placing nuclear weapons or any other weapons of mass destruction in orbit around the Earth, installing them on the Moon or any other celestial body, or to otherwise stationing them in outer space. It exclusively limits the use of the Moon and other celestial bodies to peaceful purposes and expressly prohibits their use for testing weapons of any kind, conducting military maneuvers, or establishing military bases, installations, and fortifications.” Unfortunately, there is no prohibition against placing conventional weapons in orbit. There are designs for rods with small engines and steering mechanisms that would rely on extremely high velocity to wreck havoc when sent out of orbit without the need for any explosives.
        The Chinese test may be the starting gun for a race to militarize Earth orbit. It is difficult to believe that space faring nations will be able to resist the urge to develop space weapons. If this military space race occurs, it is doubtful that the Outer Space Treaty will serve as much of a deterrent:
Concept art for orbital weapons:

Orbital weapons.png

           China has been working on anti-satellite weapons systems since 1964. They have been developing three types of ASAT systems including Directed Energy, Micro-satellites and Direct Fire. There was an interruption of progress during the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s.
            Directed Energy weapons consist of laser or microwave beams from the ground that damage the electronics of a satellite. While Directed Energy ASAT systems are not able to destroy a satellite, they can render one useless. The development of this type of ASAT system has been dependent on the creation of extremely powerful lasers and microwave projectors. The Chinese have been working on a high powered ASAT laser system since 1995. This system was tested on a U.S. satellite in 2006. The U.S. satellite detected bright laser light flashes from Earth but the flashes were not aimed at the lenses of the satellite and caused no damage.
            Micro-satellites are defined as orbital objects that are between twenty pounds and one thousand pounds. This includes both man-made satellites launched into orbit as well as orbital debris. Micro-satellites are inexpensive to build and launch. Any micro-satellite with maneuvering capability could become an ASAT system simply by arranging for it to collide with another satellite. The Chinese have claimed that they have developed a satellite that can attach itself to other satellites. It could then be detonated at any time. There has been no demonstration of such a satellite so it may not actually exist.
           A Direct Fire System involves the launch of a missile from the ground or from a submarine that rises into orbit and collides with a satellite. The Chinese tested such weapons in 2005 and 2006, but the tests failed. In 2007 China launched a DF-21 multistage solid-fuel medium range ballistic missile from Xichang Space Center with a Kinetic Kill Vehicle mounted as the payload. The missile traveled over five hundred miles into space and slammed head on into the Chinese Feng Yun 1C satellite at about four miles per second. The Feng Yun 1C was a old Chinese weather satellite weighing one thousand six hundred and fifty pounds. It was travelling in a polar orbit at five hundred and thirty seven miles.
           The destruction of the Feng Yun 1C created a large field of orbital debris with over two thousand trackable pieces larger than a golf ball. In addition, there are an estimated one hundred and fifty thousand small particles in the debris field. The debris from the Feng Yun 1C passed near the International Space Station and recently destroyed a Russian nanosatellite.
           The United States halted their tests of Direct Fire ASAT systems in 1985 partly because of concern over the debris that such tests create. The debris that already orbits the Earth poses a major threat to existing and future satellites. The orbital debris includes nuts, bolts, tools, frozen fuel droplets, flecks of paint and other particles from disintegrating satellites. These objects can be traveling as fast as seventeen thousand miles per hour and they can seriously damage satellites and spacecraft.
Orbital plane of Feng Yun-1C debris a month after its destruction:

Feng Yun 1C debris orbits.png