Russian space activity has led to the appearance of a new pile of space debris in orbit. According to Space. com, #32398 disintegrated on April 15th, 16 fragments associated with the incident have been traced so far.

This object was the engine of a space tug that helped launch three GLONASS satellites into orbit in 2007..

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Astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics claims that the satellites were launched into orbit using a Proton launch vehicle, the upper stage of which was equipped with two small engines.. These thrusters accelerate the stage slightly to ensure that the booster fuels are correctly positioned in the tanks to restart the thrusters in orbit..

The scientist notes that at the moment it is known about 64 such engines in Earth's orbit.. They are known under the designation POS - Launch Support System..

" They have the nasty habit of exploding years or even decades later, leaving a pile of debris in a highly elliptical orbit.. At the moment, at least 54 POPs engines are known to have exploded,” McDowell wrote..

The POP engine, which exploded recently, moved around the Earth, approaching it at 388 kilometers and moving away at 19,074 kilometers. The astrophysicist claims that the explosion of the engine was expected and predictable, but still "

Space debris is a problem for satellite launches and space mission planning. According to the European Space Agency, at the moment there are about 36,500 pieces of debris at least 10 centimeters in size in Earth's orbit.. It is likely that at least a million pieces of debris ranging in size from one to 10 centimeters are in orbit..

Recall that the European Space Agency announced the termination of cooperation with Russia on the lunar program. This decision was made in connection with the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the aggressor country..