§ Mr. Churchillasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what advance notice he received of the destabilisation of orbit and impending crash of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics' nuclear powered COSMOS 954 reconnaisance satellite; on what date and from what source the warning was first received; and what action he took.
§ Mr. JuddThe Government were informed some weeks ago by the United States Government in advance of the possible malfunction of COSMOS 954. In mid-January my right hon. Friend was informed that the satellite would re-enter the earth's atmosphere on about 24th January but that any area of impact would be unlikely to include populated or cultivated areas and would almost certainly not be in this country. If, nonetheless, the satellite had landed in the United Kingdom existing contingency arangements would have been brought into action.