FragmentationAugust 6, 2024
Long March 6A Upper-Stage Fragmentation
After deploying the first batch of China's Qianfan (Thousand Sails) broadband satellites in August 2024, the Long March 6A upper stage fragmented at around 810 km — a densely used orbital shell. U.S. Space Command catalogued more than 283 trackable fragments, with models suggesting many more untrackable pieces. The breakup highlighted the debris risk created by upper stages left in high LEO during the mega-constellation build-out.
At a glance
- Date
- August 6, 2024
- Type
- Fragmentation
- Orbit regime
- LEO (~810 km)
- Trackable fragments
- 283+
Related
Data sourced from ESA Space Debris Office, NASA Orbital Debris Program Office, and U.S. Space Command catalog reporting. © SpaceOdysseyHub.