Timeline
Debris events and removal milestones
The moments that shaped today's orbit: the tests and collisions that created the big debris clouds, and the missions that are slowly building the ability to clean them up.
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2026-09-04
Yaogan-50 (02) breakup breakup
A Chinese satellite broke up in a rare retrograde orbit of about 142 degrees inclination, where debris could persist for a long time.
43 catalogued by USSF · source
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2026-07-22
Northrop Grumman MRV launches milestone
The Mission Robotic Vehicle, with two robotic arms for inspection, repair, relocation and debris removal, launched with three Mission Extension Pods. Its first job is targeted for late 2027.
None (servicing) · source
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2026-07-11
US catalog passes 99,999 milestone
The US Space Force catalog ran out of five-digit numbers with the addition of Saramago. Objects numbered 100000 and above cannot be represented in the legacy TLE format.
Catalog has reached 100691 · source
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2026-06-09
Zhuque-2E upper stage breakup breakup
A LandSpace Zhuque-2E upper stage reportedly broke up at 335-424 km. Fragment counts come from secondary reporting.
~380 km · Estimated 100-150 (secondary source) · source
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2026-03-29
Starlink 34343 breakup breakup
A Starlink V2 Mini Optimized satellite launched in May 2025 broke up, with LeoLabs pointing to an internal cause.
~560 km · Tens of objects detected by LeoLabs · source
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2025-04-09
MEV-1 undocks from Intelsat 901 milestone
Northrop Grumman's MEV-1 undocked after five years attached to Intelsat 901, leaving the satellite in a graveyard orbit, the first undocking between two commercial spacecraft in GEO.
None (servicing) · source
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2024-10-19
Intelsat 33e breakup in GEO breakup
The Boeing-built communications satellite broke apart at 60 degrees East in geostationary orbit. It was uninsured.
About 20 tracked by USSF; 57 counted by ExoAnalytic by 21 Oct 2024 · source
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2024-08-06
Long March 6A upper stage breakup breakup
The Chinese upper stage broke apart after launching 18 Qianfan satellites, one of several CZ-6A stage breakups since 2022.
~810 km · More than 300 trackable (US Space Command); 700+ counted by LeoLabs · source
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2024-07
ADRAS-J approaches a real H-IIA upper stage to 15 m milestone
Astroscale's ADRAS-J, under JAXA's CRD2 programme, closed to about 15 m of a derelict H-IIA upper stage and flew around it, the closest approach yet to uncooperative large debris.
None (inspection) · source
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2024-06-26
Resurs-P1 breakup breakup
A defunct Russian Earth-observation satellite broke up in low orbit, and the ISS crew sheltered in their spacecraft for about an hour.
~355 km · More than 100 tracked initially; at least 180 counted by LeoLabs · source
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2021-11-15
Cosmos 1408 anti-satellite test asat
Russia destroyed the 1,750 kg Cosmos 1408 at about 465-490 km. The ISS crew sheltered in their docked spacecraft for about two hours.
~480 km · 1,604 catalogued (Mar 2022); NASA projected more than 90% re-entry within 5 years · source
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2021-08
ELSA-d magnetic capture demonstration milestone
Astroscale's ELSA-d servicer repeatedly captured its own client satellite using a magnetic docking plate. A later autonomous capture was aborted after an anomaly.
None (demonstration) · source
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2018-09-16
RemoveDEBRIS net capture test milestone
RemoveDEBRIS, released from the ISS in June 2018, captured its own inflated target with a net. It later tested vision navigation and a harpoon; its drag sail failed to deploy.
None (demonstration) · source
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2009-02-10
Iridium 33 / Cosmos 2251 collision collision
The active Iridium 33 and the derelict Cosmos 2251 collided at more than 11 km/s over northern Siberia, the first accidental collision between two intact satellites.
~790 km · 823 catalogued by end of Mar 2009; 2,201 catalogued by Jan 2013 (1,821 still in orbit) · source
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2007-01-11
Fengyun-1C anti-satellite test asat
China destroyed its 960 kg Fengyun-1C weather satellite at about 845-865 km. NASA called it the single worst contamination of LEO in 50 years.
~850 km · 3,534 catalogued; 2,318 still in orbit (Aug 2026, secondary source) · source