Soviet-era satellite is destroyed in Russian missile test

Russia confirmed a successful missile test on Tuesday that hit and destroyed an old satellite one day after the United States accused Moscow of being "irresponsible" and "reckless".

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the test took place on Monday and hit a Soviet-era Tselina-D type reconnaissance satellite, which has been in orbit since 1982 and is now inoperable.

Russia described the decision to conduct the test as a planned activity to strengthen its defense capabilities and a way to prevent "the possibility of sudden damage to the country's security in the space sphere and on the ground".

Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu later said the launch used a "promising" system that "accurately" struck its target.

Monday's test of an antisatellite missile marks the fourth ever instance in which a spacecraft was hit from the ground.

After NASA and the US State Department decried its "dangerous and irresponsible" space missile strike, the Russian military hit back with accusations that Washington is testing its own space weapons.

NASA said the International Space Station crew members-seven astronauts from the US, Germany and Russia-were forced to take shelter in their return ships on Monday after the missile test put more than 1,500 pieces of debris into the Earth's orbit.

White House spokesman Andrew Bates said on Tuesday that the debris will "continue to pose a direct threat to activities in outer space for years and puts at risk satellites all nations rely on for national security, economic prosperity and scientific discovery".

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also attacked Moscow for claiming to oppose the weaponization of outer space, while simultaneously sending a missile to destroy a satellite.

Russian officials rejected the accusations, as state news agency RIA Novosti quoted the Russian Defense Ministry as saying that "the US Defense Department is also actively developing and testing, without any notification, various types of advanced strike and combat weapons in orbit".

"The American side's actions are viewed as a threat incompatible with its stated goals of the peaceful use of outer space," it said, adding that Russia is working on "eliminating the likelihood of sudden damage to the country's defense capability in space and on Earth".

Roscosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin said he held a "detailed "phone call with NASA chief Bill Nelson on Tuesday evening.

"In short ... we are moving on, ensuring the safety of our crews on the ISS and making joint plans," wrote Rogozin on Twitter.

Anti-satellite weapons are high-tech missiles possessed by only a handful of nations. India last carried out a test on a target in 2019, an incident which was criticized by the US and some other countries after hundreds of pieces of "space junk" were created.