Fengyun-1C ASAT test (January 2007)
January 11, 2007
Chinese ASAT test destroyed the defunct Fengyun-1C weather satellite at 865 km altitude, creating ~3,000 cataloged debris fragments — still the worst single debris-creation event in history.
On January 11, 2007, China demonstrated an ASAT capability by destroying its own defunct polar-orbiting weather satellite Fengyun-1C at ~865 km altitude. The high altitude (above the natural drag zone) means the resulting debris cloud will persist for centuries. To this day, Fengyun-1C debris accounts for a meaningful fraction of all tracked objects in LEO.
Sources & further reading
- LeoLabs — commercial radar tracking & orbital intelligence
- Space-Track.org — US Space Force public catalogue
- CelesTrak — orbital element sets & analysis
LowEarth shows the public catalogue for curiosity and education. For operational tracking, conjunction screening, or threat assessment, the organisations above provide authoritative, higher-precision data.