It's not like they're sending up a new satellite just to blow up... From Wikipedia: > Kosmos 1408 was a Soviet Union ELINT (Electronic and Signals Intelligenc

It's not like they're sending up a new satellite just to blow up... From Wikipedia: > Kosmos 1408 was a Soviet Union ELINT (Electronic and Signals Intelligence) satellite launched into low Earth orbit on 16 September 1982. It replaced Kosmos 1378. > On 15 November 2021, it was destroyed during an anti-satellite weapons test, resulting in over 1500 pieces of debris that subsequently risked collision with the International Space Station (ISS). I'd say this is not that much different from something like Operation Crossroads where a bunch of decommissioned (old & captured) warships are blown up to "test what would happen if you nuked a warship"...