China successfully destroyed its own FY-1C weather satellite using a kinetic kill vehicle launched from Xichang, marking the first satellite intercept since 1985 and creating thousands of debris fragments.
Background
Test Details
On January 11, 2007, the People's Republic of China conducted a direct-ascent anti-satellite weapons test from Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan province. A multistage solid-fuel ballistic missile carried a kinetic kill vehicle that collided with the non-operational FY-1C polar orbit weather satellite at an altitude of approximately 537 miles (865 kilometers).
Impact and Debris
The kinetic kill vehicle struck the satellite at a closing velocity of 8 kilometers per second (18,000 mph) traveling in the opposite direction. The collision completely destroyed the satellite without explosives, generating an estimated 35,000 pieces of one-centimeter-wide debris and approximately 1,500 larger fragments exceeding 10 centimeters, creating the largest tracked debris cloud in orbital history.
Historical Significance
This marked the first known successful satellite intercept test since September 1985, when the United States destroyed the Solwind P78-1 satellite. The test raised international concerns about space debris proliferation and questions regarding China's capability to target foreign satellites.