What Happened
On 11 January 2007, China launched a SC-19 ballistic missile from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre. The missile's kinetic kill vehicle intercepted the decommissioned Fengyun-1C (FY-1C) weather satellite in a head-on engagement at approximately 8 km/s closing velocity. The collision occurred at roughly 865 km altitude in a near-circular, sun-synchronous orbit (98.8° inclination). China did not publicly acknowledge the test until 23 January, twelve days after it took place.
Key Facts
| Date | 11 January 2007 |
| Target | Fengyun-1C (FY-1C) — weather satellite launched 10 May 1999 |
| COSPAR ID | 1999-025A |
| Target Mass | ~750 kg |
| Weapon | SC-19 ASAT missile (kinetic kill vehicle) |
| Collision Altitude | ~865 km (sun-synchronous orbit) |
| Closing Velocity | ~8 km/s (head-on engagement) |
| Catalogued Fragments (peak) | 3,438 (as of Oct 2016 tracking) |
| Estimated Sub-10cm Debris | ~40,000 objects >1 cm; ~150,000 >1 mm |
| Fragments Decayed | ~700 re-entered (as of early 2026) |
| Fragments Still in Orbit | ~2,800 tracked (early 2026) |
| Debris Altitude Spread | 200 km to 3,850 km — spanning all of LEO |
Why This Is the Worst Debris Event Ever
The Fengyun-1C destruction instantly increased the catalogued LEO debris population by approximately 25%. No other single event in the history of spaceflight has created as many tracked fragments. The debris cloud spread to altitudes from below 200 km to above 3,850 km, contaminating virtually the entire LEO regime. Because the collision occurred at ~865 km — where atmospheric drag is extremely weak — the majority of fragments will remain in orbit for decades to centuries. NASA models estimated roughly 50% of tracked fragments would still be in orbit around 2025, with 10% persisting until around 2090.
Impact on the Space Environment
The debris cloud dramatically increased collision risk for all spacecraft in LEO sun-synchronous orbits — the most heavily used orbital regime for Earth observation satellites (Landsat, Sentinel, NOAA weather satellites). In 2013, the Russian laser ranging satellite BLITS collided with a suspected Fengyun-1C fragment, was knocked off its rotation axis, and ceased operations. The ISS has had to perform multiple avoidance manoeuvres to dodge Fengyun-1C debris. As of 2019, approximately 3,000 of the 10,000 debris objects routinely tracked as potential threats to the ISS originated from this single test.
International Response
The test was condemned by the United States, Japan, Australia, the United Kingdom, and other nations. It became the defining example of why destructive ASAT testing must be banned and catalysed renewed international dialogue on space debris mitigation. The 2022 US moratorium on destructive direct-ascent ASAT testing explicitly cited the debris consequences of events like this one.
See It on Orbital Radar
Open the live tracker and search for objects under the international designator 1999-025. The debris cloud has spread along the original orbit but at varying altitudes, forming a distinctive shell visible on the 3D globe. Despite 19 years of decay, the vast majority of fragments remain in orbit.