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Defunct Soviet satellite may collide with foreign rocket debris, says Roscosmos

The Cosmos-2004 satellite was orbited in 1989

MOSCOW, October 15. /TASS/. The defunct Soviet Cosmos-2004 satellite may collide with an object of space debris, Russia’s State Space Corporation Roscosmos told TASS on Thursday.

"The calculations by the automated system of warning about dangerous situations in near-Earth space (TsNIImash, part of Roscosmos) have confirmed the probability that the Cosmos-2004 satellite and a stage of a foreign carrier rocket may simultaneously cross the same flight trajectory," the Roscosmos press office said.

Both objects are considered as space debris, Roscosmos stressed.

"According to preliminary data, currently they do not pose a threat to satellites of the Russian orbital grouping," the press office explained, noting that in case of their collision, specialists would analyze the fragmentations’ scattering and determine the probability of a threat for operational satellites in the Russian orbital constellation.

The Cosmos-2004 satellite was orbited in 1989.