Chinese satellite in near-collision with Russian debris

A Chinese satellite had a near-collision with one of the chunks of debris left by the fallout of a recent Russian anti-satellite missile test, state media reported.

Moscow blew up one of its old satellites in November in a missile test that sparked international anger because of the space debris it scattered around the Earth's orbit.

US officials accused Moscow of carrying out a "dangerous and irresponsible" strike that forced the International Space Station's crew to take evasive action.

Russia denied that the space debris posed any danger but an incident with a Chinese satellite suggests otherwise.

In the latest encounter, the Tsinghua Science Satellite came as close as 14.5 meters from a piece of debris, the Global Times reported.

The "extremely dangerous" event happened on Tuesday, the report added, citing a social media post by Chinese space authorities.

Last year there were close encounters between the Chinese space station and satellites operated by Elon Musk's SpaceX, which led to Beijing accusing the US of irresponsible and unsafe conduct in space.