List of space debris producing events

Last updated

Major contributors to space debris include the explosion of upper stages and satellite collisions. [1]

Contents

Overview

There were 190 known satellite breakups between 1961 and 2006. [2] By 2015, the total had grown to 250 on-orbit fragmentation events. [3]

As of 2012 there were an estimated 500,000 pieces of debris in orbit, [4] with 300,000 pieces below 2000 km (LEO). [1] Of the total, about 20,000 are tracked. [1] Also, about sixteen old Soviet nuclear space reactors are known to have released an estimated 100,000 NaK liquid metal coolant droplets 800–900 km up, [5] which range in size from 1 – 6 cm. [5]

The greatest risk to space missions is from untracked debris between 1 and 10 cm in size. [1] Large pieces can be tracked and avoided, and impact from smaller pieces are usually survivable. [1]

Top debris creation events

Top debris creation events, August 2024 [6]
ObjectYearPiecesNotes
Fengyun-1C 20073,549Intentional collision (ASAT)
Kosmos 2251 20091,716Accidental collision with Iridium 33
Kosmos 1408 20211,562Intentional collision (ASAT)
Long March 6A upper stage2024700–900+Unknown; but may be related to upper stage passivization or insulation. [7]
Long March 6A upper stage2022781 [8] Unknown; but may be related to upper stage passivization or insulation with later debris cloud expansion. [8] [9]
STEP 2 Rocket Body1996756Residual propellant explosion
Iridium 33 2009659Accidental collision with Kosmos 2251
Kosmos 2421 2008511Disintegrated[ citation needed ]
SPOT 1 Rocket Body1986506Residual propellant explosion
Parus 1981482Battery explosion
OV2-1 Rocket Body1965473Engine explosion
Nimbus 4 Rocket Body1970465Residual propellant explosion
NOAA-16 2015458Battery explosion
TES Rocket Body2001373Residual propellant explosion
CBERS-1 Rocket Body2000344Residual propellant explosion
Fregat tank2020338Residual propellant explosion
Ablestar 1961320Residual propellant explosion
Delta 2910 1975313Residual propellant explosion
Solwind 1985289Intentional collision (ASAT) [10]

Recent events

DateObjectInternational DesignationCauseTotal PiecesPieces in OrbitReentered Pieces as of Dec 2022 [a]
August 31, 2018Centaur V upper stage [11] 2014-055BUnknown [11] 1071070
December 22, 2018ORBCOMM FM-16 [11] 1998-046EEnergetic fragmentation; Probably caused by left over propellent [12] 1358
January 24, 2019Microsat-R [12] 2019-006AASAT (Anti-Satellite) weapon system test [12] 1290129
February 6, 2019H2-A 202 Rocket Body [11] 2018-084LUnknown; Third known breakup of an H-2A Rocket Body [11] 606
February 6, 2019H2-A 202 Payload Adapter [11] 2018-084EEnergetic fragmentation event; Cause Unknown [11] 303
April 2019Centaur V Rocket Body [12] 2018-079BEnergetic fragmentation event; Cause Unknown [12] 1931921
May 7, 2019Titan IIIC Transtage rocket body [13] 1976-023FEnergetic fragmentation event by caused the overheating of leftover anhydrous hydrazine(N2H4) Mono Propellant [13] ? [b] ??
August 19, 2019SOZ (Sistema Obespecheniya Zapuska) ullage motor from a Proton Block DM fourth stage [13] 2010-041HEnergetic fragmentation event; caused by left over fuel in the ullage motor. 30th fragmentation event of a SOZ unit. 34 intact units remain in orbit [13] 23230
August 13, 2019Ariane 42P third stage rocket body [13] 1992-052DUnknown [13] 10100
December 23, 2019 Kosmos 2491 2013-076EUnknown [14] [15] ~20~200
May 8, 2020 Fregat tank [16] 2011-037BUnknown, possibly explosion [16] 34628066
July 12, 2020H2-A 202 Fairing [16] 2018-084CCollision with untracked debris [16] 1235118
March 18, 2021Yunhai-1 02 [17] 2019-063AAccidental collision with a fragment from the Zenit-2 rocket body that launched Tselina-2 in 1996. [17] 392019
November 15, 2021 Kosmos 1408 1982-092AASAT (Anti-Satellite) weapon system test17873941393
November 12, 2022 Long March 6A upper stage2022-151BUnknown; but may be related to upper stage passivization or insulation. [18] [19] [20] 78172259
November 17, 2022H2-A 202 Payload fairing2012-025FEnergetic fragmentation event; Cause unknown [21] 50+50+0
January 4, 2023 Kosmos 2499 2014-028EUnknown [15] 85850
March 11, 2023 Orbcomm F361999-065EUnknown; likely energetic fragmentation event caused by a malfunction in the hydrazine orbit adjust system [22] [23] 770
August 21, 2023Vega VV02 VESPA adapter2013-021DUnknown; likely debris impact [24] [25] 770
March 26, 2024 Long March 6A upper stage2024-058BUnknown; but may be related to upper stage passivization or insulation. [26] ~60~600
June 26, 2024 Resurs-P No.1 2013-030AUnknown; but may be related to improper spacecraft passivization [27] [28] 100+100+0
July 4, 2024 Long March 6A upper stage2024-126CUnknown; but may be related to upper stage passivization or insulation. [26] ? [c] ?0
August 6, 2024 Long March 6A upper stage2024-140UUnknown; but may be related to upper stage passivization or insulation. [7] 700–900+700–900+0
September 6, 2024 Atlas V Centaur upper stage2018-022BUnknown;40+40+0
October 19, 2024 Intelsat 33e 2016-053BUnknown; potential threat to all spacecraft in geostationary orbit, including the Russian satellites, Ekspress-AT1, Yamal-402, Ekspress-AM6 and Elektro-L; [29] [30] 700+700+0
February 9, 2025 New Glenn upper stage+Blue Ring 2025-011AEnergetic fragmentation event;[ citation needed ] Cause Unknown; but may be related to upper stage passivization or insulation.67670
  1. ↑ The date when all rows were updated.
  2. ↑ No fragments have entered the SSN catalog as 2022-09-22
  3. ↑ No fragments have entered the SSN catalog as 2024-08-08

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 The Threat of Orbital Debris and Protecting NASA Space Assets from Satellite Collisions (2009)
  2. ↑ "AN ANALYSIS OF RECENT MAJOR BREAKUPS IN THE LOW EARTH ORBIT REGION". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2013-05-04.
  3. ↑ "ESA Experts Assess Risk from Exploded Satellite". www.esa.int. ESA. Retrieved 5 March 2015.
  4. ↑ "DARPA wants army of networked amateur astronomers to watch sky for space junk, aliens". Stratrisks. 2012-11-14. Archived from the original on 2012-11-19.
  5. 1 2 IEEE – The Growing Threat of Space Debris Archived 2013-01-27 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ↑ McDowell, Jonathan (9 December 2022). "Space Debris Clouds". Jonathan's Space Pages. Retrieved 10 December 2022.
  7. 1 2 Jones, Andrew (9 August 2024). "Chinese rocket stage breaks up into cloud of more than 700 pieces of space debris". SpaceNews . Retrieved 10 August 2024.
  8. 1 2 "Evolution of Major Debris Clouds in Low Earth Orbit" (PDF). NASA . Retrieved 8 August 2024.
  9. ↑ Jones, Andrew (8 August 2024). "Chinese megaconstellation launch creates field of space debris". SpaceNews . Retrieved 9 August 2024.
  10. ↑ "The Most Dangerous Space Weapons Ever". Space.com. 21 December 2016. Retrieved 2021-04-22.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 National Aeronautics and Space Administration (May 2019). "Orbital Debris Quarterly News" (PDF). Space News. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 National Aeronautics and Space Administration (August 2019). "Orbital Debris Quarterly News" (PDF). Space News. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 National Aeronautics and Space Administration (November 2019). "Orbital Debris Quarterly News" (PDF). Space News. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
  14. ↑ @planet4589 (11 January 2020). "Unlike the two later sats, Kosmos-2491 did not change its orbit. It appeared to end its mission in 2014. However, at about 1321 UTC on 2019 Dec 23, the satellite made a 1.5m/s orbit change and 10 debris objects have now been cataloged" (Tweet). Retrieved 8 February 2023– via Twitter.
  15. 1 2 Berger, Eric (8 February 2023). "Mysterious Russian satellites are now breaking apart in low-Earth orbit". Ars Technica . Retrieved 8 February 2023.
  16. 1 2 3 4 National Aeronautics and Space Administration (August 2020). "Orbital Debris Quarterly News" (PDF). NASA . Retrieved 22 September 2022.
  17. 1 2 Wall, Mike (17 August 2021). "Space collision: Chinese satellite got whacked by hunk of Russian rocket in March". Space.com . Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  18. ↑ Jones, Andrew (2024-07-12). "China's Long March 6A rocket appears to have an orbital debris problem". SpaceNews. Retrieved 2024-08-08.
  19. ↑ @S4S_SDA (7 August 2024). "#S4S has confirmed the breakup of a Chinese Long March 6A rocket launched from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, China, on Aug. 7, 2024. Analysis ongoing. #spacedebris #SDA @SpaceTrackOrg @US_SpaceCom" (Tweet). Retrieved 7 August 2024– via Twitter.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  20. ↑ @18thSDS (12 November 2022). "18th Space Defense Squadron confirmed breakup associated with CZ-6A Rocket Body - likely occurred Nov 12 at around 05:25 UTC" (Tweet). Retrieved 13 November 2022– via Twitter.
  21. ↑ @18thSDS (23 November 2022). "18th Space Defense Squadron confirms breakup of H-2A DEB (#38345, 2012-025F)" (Tweet). Retrieved 10 December 2022– via Twitter.
  22. ↑ Orbital Focus [@OrbitalFocus] (17 March 2023). "From Space-Track: The 18th Space Defense Squadron (18 SDS) has confirmed the breakup of Orbcomm FM 36 (#25984, 1999-065E), which likely occurred March 11, 2023, at approximately 0145 UTC. As of March 16, 18 SDS is tracking 7 associated pieces at an estimated 792 km altitude..." (Tweet). Retrieved 21 March 2023– via Twitter.
  23. ↑ @planet4589 (17 March 2023). "The jump is a propulsive orbit adjust, which makes the likeliest cause some kind of bad event in the hydrazine orbit adjust system" (Tweet). Retrieved 21 March 2023– via Twitter.
  24. ↑ Jonathan McDowell [@planet4589] (22 August 2023). "7 new debris objects cataloged from the Vega VV02 launch in a 23:50 LTDN sun-sync orbit, consistent with a breakup of the VESPA adapter upper section, object 39162. Possibly the result of an impact by a small object?" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  25. ↑ "Objects detected in the vicinity of ClearSpace-1 debris removal mission target". ESA. 22 August 2023. Retrieved 23 August 2023.
  26. 1 2 Jones, Andrew (12 July 2024). "China's Long March 6A rocket appears to have an orbital debris problem". SpaceNews . Retrieved 8 August 2024.
  27. ↑ "Press Release: Break-up of Russian-owned space object". United States Space Command (Press release). 27 June 2024. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
  28. ↑ Foust, Jeff (2024-06-27). "Russian satellite breaks up, creating debris in low Earth orbit". SpaceNews. Retrieved 2024-06-29.
  29. ↑ Rainbow, Jason (19 October 2024). "Intelsat 33e breaks up in geostationary orbit". SpaceNews . Retrieved 21 October 2024.
  30. ↑ Rainbow, Jason (10 December 2024). "Intelsat 33e demise exposes vulnerabilities in the space domain". SpaceNews . Retrieved 11 December 2024. Clint Clark, ExoAnalytic Solutions chief growth officer and vice president of first impressions, said the company has identified a cloud of more than 700 pieces of debris following the Oct. 19 incident.
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