Soviet satellite Meteor 2-7 breaks apart in orbit again

An old Soviet weather satellite has broken apart in low Earth orbit, the fourth fragmentation event detected in the past six months by the space tracking company LeoLabs.

LeoLabs said it detected a "debris generating event" near the known location of the Meteor 2-7 satellite as it passed over a sensor site in Western Australia. The satellite, which launched in 1981, produced an estimated tens of fragments, according to the company.

The breakup follows the disintegration of a U.S. Cold War-era spy satellite, USA 32, confirmed in September 2026. A Chinese rocket body also broke apart in low Earth orbit in late August 2026, LeoLabs reported. A SpaceX Starlink satellite experienced a fragmentation event earlier in 2026.

"This is the latest in a series of events we've seen over the last 6 months," LeoLabs wrote on X. "Together, they point to a worrying trend for space safety and security, and underscore the critical need for persistent sensing."

Orbital debris expert Jim Shell noted on X that Meteor 2-7 previously broke apart in March 2004. He said the latest event occurred at an altitude of about 530 miles (855 kilometers), where debris density is highest.

The fragmentation events come amid a steady increase in tracked orbital debris. The European Space Agency reported tracking about 16,000 pieces of debris in 2005. By 2026, ESA's count had grown to more than 44,000, a roughly 180 percent increase. While most fragments are small, their high orbital speeds give them enough energy to cause serious damage on impact.

Spacecraft are also taking more evasive action. According to a SpaceX disclosure in a semiannual report to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, each Starlink satellite performed more than 40 avoidance maneuvers per year between June 1, 2025 and May 31, 2026.

Some experts predict a collision is inevitable. "I think we're heading towards a situation where there will be a collision involving an operational satellite in the constellation," Hugh Lewis, a space sustainability expert at the University of Birmingham in the U.K., told Space.com. "And it will not be for the lack of trying to avoid those things. It will be in spite of all those maneuvers."

In February 2026, China had a brief emergency aboard its Tiangong space station when a piece of debris damaged the return spacecraft for three astronauts, leaving them without a lifeboat for 10 days.

LeoLabs said the string of breakups underscores the need for continuous monitoring of orbital space.

Despite the warnings, private companies and governments continue planning large satellite constellations. SpaceX has said it wants to put 1 million data center satellites in orbit.

• fragmentation
• LeoLabs
• low Earth orbit
• Meteor 2-7
• orbital debris
• space sustainability