MOSCOW, July 7. /TASS/. The minimum distance between the International Space Station (ISS) and a piece of space junk that may fly close to it has narrowed to 1.5 km from its earlier predicted figure of 4.6 km, Russia’s State Space Corporation Roscosmos reported on Wednesday.

"According to the latest data of the Automated Warning System of Hazardous Situations in near-Earth Space, a piece of space debris will fly at a distance of 1.5 km from the International Space Station on Thursday, July 8," the statement says. 

The near-miss will occur at 4:16 p.m. Moscow time on Thursday, Roscosmos specified. "The Automated Warning System of Hazardous Situations in near-Earth Space continues monitoring," it added.

Roscosmos Chief Dmitry Rogozin said earlier on Wednesday that the space object dubbed Unknown would pass by the orbital outpost at a distance of 4.8 km. He stressed that Roscosmos agreed with the US side only in the assessment of the near-miss distance.

"We do not confirm the threat and continue monitoring the situation," he explained.

Head of the Information Analytical Center at the Central Research Institute of Machine-Building (TsNIIMash, part of the space agency Roscosmos) Igor Bakaras earlier told TASS that Russia’s Automated Warning System of Hazardous Situations in near-Earth Space registered 220 space junk near-misses with the International Space Station in 2020.

The space station’s orbit had to be adjusted twice in 2020 to avoid a collision with space junk, he added.