Space Security Index

Table 1.3 below lists the Top 10 breakups of on-orbit objects. ese events, six of which
occurred in the last decade, 24 account for one-third of all cataloged objects currently in Earth
orbit. e two satellites involved in the February 2009 collision — the Russian Cosmos 2251
and the American Iridium 33 — are second and fourth on the list.
A complete listing of the 2009 breakups can be found in Figure 1.3 below.
Table 1.3: Top 10 breakups of on-orbit objects 25
Common name Launching
state
Year of
breakup
Altitude of
breakup
(km)
Total cataloged
pieces of
debris*
Pieces of
debris still
in orbit*
Cause of breakup
Fengyun-1C China 2007 850 2,841 2,756 Intentional Collision
Cosmos 2251 Russia 2009 790 1,267 1,215 Accidental Collision
STEP 2 Rocket Body U.S. 1996 625 713 63 Accidental Explosion
Iridium 33 U.S. 2009 790 521 498 Accidental Collision
Cosmos 2421 Russia 2008 410 509 18 Unknown
SPOT 1 Rocket Body France 1986 805 492 33 Accidental Explosion
OV 2-1 / LCS-2 Rocket Body U.S. 1965 740 473 36 Accidental Explosion
Nimbus 4 Rocket Body U.S. 1970 1,075 374 248 Accidental Explosion
TES Rocket Body India 2001 670 370 116 Accidental Explosion
CBERS 1 Rocket Body China 2000 740 343 189 Accidental Explosion
* These totals only include trackable debris (generally >10 cm)
Total: 7,903 5,172
2010 Development
Trackable space object population increases by 5.1 per cent
After a year of signicant increase in the total space debris population, 2010 saw only a few
minor debris-generating events. By the end of 2010, the U.S. SSN had cataloged 15,899
large and medium objects (>10 cm in diameter) in orbit. 26 is number represents an
increase of 809 objects or 5.1 per cent over the number at the end of 2009. e previous
one-year increase in trackable debris had been 2,347 objects, or 15.6 per cent.
In early February, the Chinese Yaogan 1 remote sensing satellite (object 2006-015A)
experienced a minor fragmentation in its 630-km operational orbit, which resulted in seven
new pieces of cataloged debris. 27 Two of those pieces were unusually large, with diameters of
approximately two meters. 28 ree of the small pieces reentered the Earth’s atmosphere in
2010; the remaining ve pieces are expected to stay in orbit for decades. 29
On 10 June, a large Breeze-M propellant tank (object 2009-042C) from a Russian launch
vehicle experienced signicant fragmentation in LEO. e 1.3-metric-ton tank had been
left in a 400 km x 35,570 km geotransfer parking orbit during the launch of the Asiasat 5
satellite on 11 August 2009. 30 At the time of the explosion, the tank’s orbit had degraded
to 95 km x 1,500 km and the tank was close to atmospheric reentry. e SSN cataloged
88 pieces of debris, all of which reentered the Earth’s atmosphere by the end of December
2010. 31
The Space Environment
31