Space Security Index

Space Security 2011
32
On 13 October, a Russian Breeze-M upper stage (object 2008-011B) experienced minor
fragmentation in its geotransfer parking orbit. 32 e launch vehicle had suered a malfunction
during the 1998 launch of the AMC-14 satellite, which provides satellite television services
for Dish Network. Although AMC-14 was able to maneuver on its own into the GEO belt,
the malfunction left the upper stage in a highly elliptical orbit with a signicant amount of
residual propellant, which is usually consumed during launch. e fragmentation resulted
in 10 cataloged pieces of debris, all of which are expected to remain in orbit for decades. 33
However, the high altitude and the Breeze-M’s elliptical orbit make consistent tracking of
small pieces of debris dicult.
On 1 November, the upper stage (object 2010-057B) of a Chinese Long March 3C rocket
experienced a minor fragmentation in its 160 km x 35,780 km highly elliptical geotransfer
orbit. 34 e event appears to have occurred shortly after the rocket separated from its payload,
a Chinese Beidou G4 navigation satellite. Although approximately 50 pieces of debris were
detected by the SSN, as of January 2011, none had been cataloged. 35
On 24 November, a defunct U.S. NOAA weather satellite (object 1988-089A) experienced
minor fragmentation in its 835 km x 850 km LEO orbit. 36 Five pieces of debris have been
cataloged from this event. 37 ree previous NOAA spacecraft of the same TIROS-N series
have experienced similar fragmentation events, each releasing a few pieces at least a dozen
years after launch, for unknown reasons. 38
On 23 December, a piece of debris (object 2007-005E) from the 2007 launch of the Japanese
IGS 4A and 4B remote sensing satellites experienced a minor fragmentation. 39 e launch
had resulted in the unusually high number of 12 pieces of debris left in orbit, all of which
had decayed in 2007 and 2008, with the exception of object 2007-005E. 40 e SSN initially
detected 10 new pieces of debris from the December 2010 event, cataloging three. 41
A complete listing of the 2010 breakups can be found in Table 1.4 below.
Table 1.4: Summary of 2010 debris events 42
Parent object Country Date Estimated number
of pieces*
Cataloged number
of pieces**
Lifespan of
pieces
Yaogan 1 China Feb 2010 8 8 decades
Breeze-M tank Russia 21 June 2010 hundreds 89 6 months
Breeze-M R/B Russia 13 Oct 2010 tens 9 decades
CZ-3C R/B China 1 Nov 2010 50 1 1,000+ years
NOAA-11 U.S. 24 Nov 2010 2 2 centuries
H-2A debris Japan 23 Dec 2010 6 3 months/years
* As initially reported by the SSN
** As of 15 February 2011