A defunct military weather satellite has broken up in Earth orbit and created more than 50 pieces of debris. Previous crafts in this series have also exploded in space.
The incident occurred on December 18. The U.S. Space Force reported detecting a “low-velocity fragmentation event” on the DMSP-5D2 F14 (USA-131) spacecraft, which was at an altitude of 840 kilometers. Commercial near-Earth tracking companies LeoLabs and Slingshot Aerospace confirmed the satellite’s destruction and reported finding at least 50 pieces of debris.
The 750-kilogram DMSP-5D2 F14 satellite was launched in 1997. It was in a sun-synchronous orbit and collected meteorological data for the U.S. military. The apparatus was decommissioned in 2020.
It is worth noting that DMSP-5D2 F14 belongs to a series of spacecraft that have previously been destroyed in space. Thus, in 2004, the F11 spacecraft disintegrated, forming 56 pieces of debris. In 2015, satellite F13 exploded, and in 2016 – satellite F12. The cause of all explosions was a defect in the design of the battery pack.
A similar battery pack design was also used in a line of civilian polar-orbiting weather satellites operated by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The NOAA-16 spacecraft exploded in November 2015 with at least 200 pieces of debris. NOAA-17 suffered the same fate, leaving at least 100 pieces of debris in March 2021.
Despite having undergone “passivation” at the end of their service, it is worth noting that many of the satellites mentioned above failed. This process involves discharging batteries and removing air from fuel tanks, which in theory should eliminate the possibility of any explosion. But, as practice shows, passivation does not provide a 100 percent guarantee. Industry experts note that it may not be fully effective for some older satellites built before orbital debris control methods were put in place. So we are likely to see more explosions of decommissioned spacecraft in the future.
Learn more about why satellites and rocket stages sometimes explode in our article.
Provided by Spacenews
