Bengaluru: ISRO receives 1.5 lakh satellite collision alerts from US
Bengaluru: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) received over 1.5 lakh space debris and collision alerts for its Earth-orbiting satellites from the United States-led Combined Space Operations Centre, according to the Indian Space Situational Awareness Report for 2025 (ISSAR-2025), as reported by The New Indian Express.
The report was released by ISRO on Thursday for the public to assess. It was announced on April 8 during the international conference on spacecraft mission operations-2026, in Bengaluru.
According to ISRO, a total of four collision avoidance manoeuvres (CAM) were carried out for Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) satellites, while 14 CAMs, including one for the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR), were performed for Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites.
ISRO said that, wherever possible, collision avoidance requirements were being met by adjusting orbit maintenance manoeuvres to avoid exclusive CAMs. All manoeuvre plans were subjected to close approach risk analysis to prevent potential collisions with nearby space objects.
They accounted revising 82 manoeuvre plans to avoid post-manoeuvre close approaches with other space objects for LEO satellites, while two manoeuvre plans were modified for GEO satellites for the same reason.
Conjunction assessment and collision risk mitigation were also being followed for deep-space missions. Citing the case of Chandrayaan-2 orbiter, ISRO scientists said 16 orbital manoeuvres were carried out in the lunar orbit and on two occasions (January 1 and July 24, 2025), the orbits were readjusted to avoid collisions with NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO).
ISRO said the first such coordinated collision avoidance effort with NASA dates back to October 18, 2021. Since then, technological interventions have been strengthened for early detection of objects in orbit. ISRO scientists added that for spaceflight security, they have also been coordinating with many agencies, particularly for Chandrayaan-2 with Firefly Aerospace, Intuitive Machines and iSpace.
The ISSAR-2025 report also detailed how the IRNSS-1D, the fourth of the seven Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System satellites, was raised to a graveyard orbit nearly 600 km above the geostationary belt and made inactive. ISRO said this was the first-ever disposal of an Indian satellite operating in an inclined geosynchronous orbit.
Similarly, the Cartosat-2A satellite, launched in 2008, was moved to a graveyard orbit after becoming non-operational in 2025.
Following the objective for a debris-free space environment, the Technology Experiment Satellite and POEM-4 re-entered Earth’s atmosphere through natural decay. Additionally, two upper stages of the SSLV-D3 mission, the Velocity Trimming Module (VTM) and the solid stage (SS3), also re-entered the atmosphere.
ISRO reported that eight debris objects from the PSLV-C3 mission re-entered the atmosphere in 2025, while 33 remained in orbit as of 31 December 2025. The total number of Indian objects re-entering the atmosphere in 2025 was 12.
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
