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FENGYUN 1C DEB

NORAD 32230· COSPAR 1999-025CWC· Debris· SSO
Parent launch
The parent object was launched on May 10, 1999 from Launch Complex 7, China aboard a Long March 4B.
Long March 4B | Feng Yun 1C →
Live · TLE epoch 2026-09-08 07:17 UTC
Orbit class
SSO — Sun-Synchronous (LEO at 96–102° inclination)
Operator
China Meteorological Administration
Country
China
Manufacturer
Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology
Launched
May 10, 1999
Mass
—
Apogee
723 km
Perigee
657 km
Inclination
98.89°
Period
1.64 h
Debris origin · anti-satellite test

On 11 January 2007, China destroyed its own defunct Fengyun-1C weather satellite with a ground-launched anti-satellite missile at about 865 km altitude. The impact created more than 3,000 catalogued fragments — the single largest debris-generating event in the history of spaceflight. Because the collision happened so high, a large fraction of the debris will remain in orbit for decades to centuries.

Parent object
Fengyun-1C
Event date
Jan 11, 2007
Altitude
~865 km
Radar size class
SMALL
2007 Chinese anti-satellite missile test (Wikipedia) →

Altitude history

Apogee and perigee for FENGYUN 1C DEB across 103 days of archived orbital elements (105 element sets, one per day).

Trend
Decaying
Change
-5.3 km
Rate
-0.05 km/day
Now
657 × 723 km
693728657May 28Sep 9
Apogee Perigee

Derived from our own archive of CelesTrak orbital elements, sampled every 3 hours. Short windows show drag and station-keeping; they are not a reentry prediction.

From the same launch

60 other catalogued objects still in orbit from launch 1999-025 (Long March 4B | Feng Yun 1C).

…and 36 more from this launch.

Sources & further reading

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