The debris from a blown-up Russian satellite poses an increased risk to the International Space Station nearly a week after the weapons test, NASA announced on Thursday. The situation has strained diplomatic relations between the United States and Russia.

The Russian satellite was destroyed earlier this week on Monday using a space missile. The strike reportedly created more than 1,500 pieces of space junk.

The American space agency clarified that the threat from the debris was at its peak in the first 24 hours of the incident, when multiple station compartments were sealed off using hatches in order to protect the seven astronauts aboard the International Space Station.

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The hatches were later reopened on Wednesday, according to reports from Associated Press citing statements from NASA.

A large number of fragments are currently being tracked by the United States Space Command in order to map any potential threats, however, thousands of pieces remain too small to observe. 

The outerspace strike has hindered multiple operations of the International Space Station crew, which currently consists of seven astronauts– four American, two Russian and one German.

A spacewalk scheduled for November 30 to replace a bad antenna remains in question as NASA announced it was still reviewing the possibility and assessing potential damage.

United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken slammed Russia for conducting the test and said that the country, “despite its claims of opposing the weaponization of outer space, is willing to imperil the exploration and use of outer space by all nations through its reckless and irresponsible behaviour”, according to reports from Associated Press.  

Bill Nelson, the administrator of NASA, said earlier this week that the threat posed by space debris to astronauts was now four times greater. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization also expressed concern about the safety of the space crew.

Russia, on the other hand, dismissed all allegations from NASA and United States officials.