List of space debris producing events

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

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 liquid metal (NaK) 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, January 2016[6]
ObjectYearPiecesNotes
Fengyun-1C20073,428Intentional collision (ASAT)
Kosmos 225120091,668Accidental collision with Iridium 33
STEP 2 Rocket Body1996754Accidental explosion
Iridium 332009628Accidental collision with Kosmos 2251
Kosmos 24212008509Disintegrated
SPOT 1 Rocket Body1986498Accidental explosion
OV2-1 Rocket Body1965473Accidental explosion
CBERS 1 Rocket Body2000431Accidental explosion
Nimbus 4 Rocket Body1970376Accidental explosion
TES Rocket Body2001372Accidental explosion

Recent events

On 3 February 2015, the 13th DMSP satellite of the US government—DMSP-F13, launched in 1995—exploded while in a Sun-synchronous polar orbit leaving a debris field of at least 43 objects. The US Air Force Joint Space Operations Center at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California is monitoring the expanding debris field, and "will issue conjunction warnings if necessary."[7]


Recent events
DateObjectInternational DesignationCauseTotal PiecesPieces in OrbitReentered Pieces as of February 2020
August 31st 2018Centaur V upper stage [8]2014-055BUnknown [8]80800
December 22nd 2018ORBCOMM FM-16 [8]1998-046EEnergetic fragmentation; Probably caused by left over propellent [9]12102
January 24th 2019Microsat-R [9]2019-006AASAT (Anti-Satellite) weapon system test [9]12516109
February 6th 2019H2-A 202 Rock Body [8]2018-084LUnknown; Third known breakup of an H-2A Rocket Body[8]651
February 6th 2019H2-A 202 Payload Adapter [8]2018-084EEnergetic fragmentation event; Cause Unknown[8]330
April 2019Centaur V Rocket Body[9]2018-079BEnergetic fragmentation event; Cause Unknown[9]64640
May 7th 2019Titan IIIC Transtage rocket body[10]1976-023FEnergetic fragmentation event by caused the overheating of leftover anhydrous hydrazine(N2H4) Mono Propellant [10]?[note 1]??
August 13th 2019Ariane 42P third stage rocket body[10]1992-052DUnknown [10]770
August 19th 2019SOZ (Sistema Obespecheniya Zapuska) ullage motor from a Proton Block DM fourth stage[10]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[10]?[note 2]??
  1. No fragments have entered the SSN catalog as 2/4/20
  2. Due to difficulties in tracking objects in deep space elliptical orbits it is unknown how many fragments were generated

References
  1. 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
  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. IEEE – The Growing Threat of Space Debris Archived 2013-01-27 at the Wayback Machine
  6. Meador, P. Anz (April 2016). "Top Ten Satellite Breakups Reevaluated". Orbital Debris Quarterly News. 20 (1 & 2). Retrieved May 1, 2016.
  7. Berger, Brian; Gruss, Mike (27 February 2015). "20-year-old Military Weather Satellite Apparently Exploded in Orbit". Space News. Retrieved 28 February 2015.
  8. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (May 2019). "Orbital Debris Quarterly News" (PDF). Space News. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  9. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (August 2019). "Orbital Debris Quarterly News" (PDF). Space News. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
  10. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (November 2019). "Orbital Debris Quarterly News" (PDF). Space News. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
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