In alarming news from the space community, a retired military weather satellite experienced a catastrophic breakup, scattering over 50 pieces of debris across Earth's orbit.

This incident underscores the ongoing problem of space debris and poses serious risks to active satellites and crewed missions.

The event, classified as a “low-velocity fragmentation,” involved the DMSP-5D2 F14 spacecraft, as confirmed by the U.S. Space Force on December 19.

It occurred on December 18 at 9:10 PM Eastern while the satellite was positioned approximately 840 kilometers above the Earth. However, the official announcement did not specify the exact number of debris pieces initially identified.

Commercial tracking companies, LeoLabs and Slingshot Aerospace, quickly leaped into action, monitoring the situation closely.

Slingshot reported that they detected the breakup earlier than the Space Force indicated, suggesting the event occurred before 8:15 PM Eastern. LeoLabs, in a follow-up statement, confirmed that their radar systems were monitoring more than 50 fragments stemming from the breakup.

Launched in 1997, the DMSP-5D2 F14 was part of the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program and served essential functions in weather observation for military operations.

The satellite weighed 750 kilograms and operated in a sun-synchronous orbit before its retirement in 2020.

This breakup isn’t an isolated incident.

The DMSP satellite family has a notorious history with three previous breakups: the F12 in October 2016, the F13 in February 2015, and the F11 in 2004, which created 56 tracked debris pieces. The common thread appears to be a critical design flaw related to their battery assemblies, making them susceptible to explosive failures.

Not only military satellites suffer from such issues; their civilian counterparts have faced similar fates.

The NOAA-16 satellite disintegrated in November 2015, and NOAA-17 followed suit in March 2021. Despite undergoing a "passivation" process—intended to eliminate potential energy sources and reduce the risk of breakup after decommissioning—these older satellites still succumbed to similar disintegration.

As debris continues to accumulate in Earth's orbit, experts are raising alarms about the effectiveness of the passivation process, especially for satellites designed prior to the establishment of modern orbital debris mitigation practices.

With both active missions and the future of space exploration at stake, this incident highlights an urgent need for improved debris management strategies.

Stay tuned, as we continue to follow this unfolding situation and explore what it could mean for the future of space activity!