ASAT

Fengyun-1C ASAT test (January 2007)

Thu Jan 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.
Fengyun-1C ASAT test (January 2007) · LowEarth