List of space debris producing events explained

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

Overview

There were 190 known satellite breakups between 1961 and 2006.[1] By 2015, the total had grown to 250 on-orbit fragmentation events.[2]

there were an estimated 500,000 pieces of debris in orbit,[3] with 300,000 pieces below 2000 km (LEO). Of the total, about 20,000 are tracked.[4] 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.[4] Large pieces can be tracked and avoided, and impact from smaller pieces are usually survivable.[4]

Top debris creation events

Top debris creation events, August 2024[6] ! Object !! Year !! Pieces !! Notes
20073,549 Intentional collision (ASAT)
2009 1,716Accidental collision with Iridium 33
2021 1,562Intentional collision (ASAT)
Long March 6A upper stage 2024700–900+ Unknown; but may be related to upper stage passivization or insulation.[7]
Long March 6A upper stage 2022781[8] Unknown; but may be related to upper stage passivization or insulation with later debris cloud expansion.[9]
STEP 2 Rocket Body 1996 756 Residual propellant explosion
Iridium 332009 659Accidental collision with Kosmos 2251
2008511 Disintegrated
SPOT 1 Rocket Body 1986 506 Residual propellant explosion
1981 482 Battery explosion
OV2-1 Rocket Body 1965 473 Engine explosion
Nimbus 4 Rocket Body 1970 465 Residual propellant explosion
2015 458 Battery explosion
TES Rocket Body 2001 373 Residual propellant explosion
CBERS-1 Rocket Body 2000 344 Residual propellant explosion
Fregat tank 2020 338 Residual propellant explosion
1961 320 Residual propellant explosion
1975 313 Residual propellant explosion
1985 289 Intentional collision (ASAT) [10]

Recent events

Date Object International Designation Cause Total Pieces Pieces in Orbit Reentered Pieces as of Dec 2022
August 31, 2018Centaur V upper stage[11] 2014-055BUnknown 1071070
December 22, 2018ORBCOMM FM-16 1998-046EEnergetic fragmentation; Probably caused by left over propellent 1358
January 24, 2019Microsat-R[12] 2019-006AASAT (Anti-Satellite) weapon system test 1290129
February 6, 2019H2-A 202 Rocket Body2018-084LUnknown; Third known breakup of an H-2A Rocket Body 606
February 6, 2019H2-A 202 Payload Adapter2018-084EEnergetic fragmentation event; Cause Unknown 303
April 2019Centaur V Rocket Body2018-079BEnergetic fragmentation event; Cause Unknown 1931921
May 7, 2019Titan IIIC Transtage rocket body[13] 1976-023FEnergetic fragmentation event by caused the overheating of leftover anhydrous hydrazine(N2H4) Mono Propellant ???
August 19, 2019SOZ (Sistema Obespecheniya Zapuska) ullage motor from a Proton Block DM fourth stage2010-041HEnergetic fragmentation event; caused by left over fuel in the ullage motor. 30th fragmentation event of a SOZ unit. 34 intact units remain in orbit 23230
August 13, 2019Ariane 42P third stage rocket body1992-052DUnknown 10100
December 23, 2019 2013-076E Unknown[14] [15] ~20~200
May 8, 2020Fregat tank[16] 2011-037BUnknown, possibly explosion 34628066
July 12, 2020H2-A 202 Fairing2018-084CCollision with untracked debris 1235118
March 18, 2021Yunhai-1 022019-063AAccidental collision with a fragment from the Zenit-2 rocket body that launched Tselina-2 in 1996.[17] 392019
November 15, 2021 1982-092A ASAT (Anti-Satellite) weapon system test 17873941393
November 12, 2022 Long March 6A upper stage 2022-151B Unknown; 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 2014-028E Unknown 85850
March 11, 2023 Orbcomm F36 1999-065E Unknown; likely energetic fragmentation event caused by a malfunction in the hydrazine orbit adjust system[22] [23] 770
August 21, 2023 Vega VV02 VESPA adapter 2013-021D Unknown; likely debris impact[24] [25] 770
March 26, 2024 Long March 6A upper stage 2024-058B Unknown; but may be related to upper stage passivization or insulation. ~60~600
June 26, 2024 2013-030A Unknown; but may be related to improper spacecraft passivization[26] [27] 100+100+0
July 4, 2024 Long March 6A upper stage 2024-126C Unknown; but may be related to upper stage passivization or insulation.[28] ??0
August 6, 2024 Long March 6A upper stage 2024-140U Unknown; but may be related to upper stage passivization or insulation. 700–900+700–900+0
September 6, 2024 Atlas V Centaur upper stage 2018-022B Unknown; 40+40+0
October 19, 2024 2016-053B Unknown; potential threat to all spacecraft in geostationary orbit, including the Russian satellites, Ekspress-AT1, Yamal-402, Ekspress-AM6 and Elektro-L;[29] ~500~5000

Notes and References

  1. Web site: AN ANALYSIS OF RECENT MAJOR BREAKUPS IN THE LOW EARTH ORBIT REGION . 2013-05-04 . 2016-03-04 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160304031140/http://www.iafastro.net/iac/archive/browse/IAC-10/A6/2/6484/ . dead .
  2. Web site: ESA Experts Assess Risk from Exploded Satellite . www.esa.int . ESA . 5 March 2015 .
  3. Web site: DARPA wants army of networked amateur astronomers to watch sky for space junk, aliens. 2012-11-14. https://web.archive.org/web/20121119052141/http://stratrisks.com/geostrat/9353. 2012-11-19. Stratrisks.
  4. http://images.spaceref.com/news/2009/ODMediaBriefing28Apr09-1.pdf The Threat of Orbital Debris and Protecting NASA Space Assets from Satellite Collisions (2009)
  5. http://www.todaysengineer.org/2009/jul/space_debris.asp IEEE – The Growing Threat of Space Debris
  6. Web site: McDowell . Jonathan . Jonathan McDowell . 9 December 2022 . Space Debris Clouds . 10 December 2022 . Jonathan's Space Pages.
  7. Web site: Jones . Andrew . Chinese rocket stage breaks up into cloud of more than 700 pieces of space debris . . 9 August 2024 . 10 August 2024.
  8. Web site: Evolution of Major Debris Clouds in Low Earth Orbit . . . 8 August 2024 .
  9. Web site: Jones . Andrew . Chinese megaconstellation launch creates field of space debris . . 8 August 2024 . 9 August 2024.
  10. Web site: 21 December 2016 . The Most Dangerous Space Weapons Ever . 2021-04-22 . Space.com.
  11. News: National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Orbital Debris Quarterly News. 16 January 2020 . Space News . May 2019 .
  12. News: National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Orbital Debris Quarterly News. 4 February 2020 . Space News . August 2019 .
  13. News: National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Orbital Debris Quarterly News. 4 February 2020 . Space News . November 2019 .
  14. Jonathan McDowell . planet4589 . 1216265783644389376 . 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. . 11 January 2020 . 8 February 2023.
  15. Web site: Berger . Eric . Mysterious Russian satellites are now breaking apart in low-Earth orbit . . 8 February 2023 . 8 February 2023.
  16. News: National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Orbital Debris Quarterly News. 22 September 2022 . . August 2020 .
  17. Web site: Wall . Mike . Space collision: Chinese satellite got whacked by hunk of Russian rocket in March . . 17 August 2021 . 18 August 2021.
  18. Web site: Jones . Andrew . 2024-07-12 . China’s Long March 6A rocket appears to have an orbital debris problem . 2024-08-08 . SpaceNews . en-US.
  19. 1821320706044653969 . S4S_SDA .
    1. 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
    . S4S_SDA . 7 August 2024 . 7 August 2024.
  20. 18thSDS. 1591597224081108992. 18th Space Defense Squadron confirmed breakup associated with CZ-6A Rocket Body - likely occurred Nov 12 at around 05:25 UTC.. 12 November 2022. 13 November 2022.
  21. 18thSDS. 1595476174267891712. 18th Space Defense Squadron confirms breakup of H-2A DEB (#38345, 2012-025F). 23 November 2022. 10 December 2022.
  22. Orbital Focus . OrbitalFocus . 1636692364914819076 . 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... . 17 March 2023 . 21 March 2023.
  23. Jonathan McDowell . planet4589 . 1636729839532101637 . The jump is a propulsive orbit adjust, which makes the likeliest cause some kind of bad event in the hydrazine orbit adjust system . 17 March 2023 . 21 March 2023.
  24. Jonathan McDowell . planet4589 . 1693810817760678191 . 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? . 22 August 2023.
  25. Web site: Objects detected in the vicinity of ClearSpace-1 debris removal mission target . 22 August 2023 . 23 August 2023 . ESA.
  26. Press Release: Break-up of Russian-owned space object . . 27 June 2024 . 27 June 2024.
  27. Web site: Foust . Jeff . 2024-06-27 . Russian satellite breaks up, creating debris in low Earth orbit . 2024-06-29 . SpaceNews .
  28. Web site: Jones . Andrew . China's Long March 6A rocket appears to have an orbital debris problem . . 12 July 2024 . 8 August 2024.
  29. Web site: Rainbow . Jason . Intelsat 33e breaks up in geostationary orbit . . 19 October 2024 . 21 October 2024.

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