events
The communications satellites Iridium 33 and Kosmos 2251 collide in orbit, destroying both.
Related Wikipedia articles
Communications satellite
Artificial satellite that relays radio signals
A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radio telecommunication signals via a transponder; it creates a communication channel between a source transmitter and a receiver at different locations on Earth. Communications satellites are used…Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
Iridium 33
Communications satellite operated by Iridium Communications
Iridium 33 was a communications satellite launched by Russia for Iridium Communications. It was launched into low Earth orbit from Site 81/23 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 01:36 UTC on 14 September 1997, by a Proton-K rocket with a Block DM2 upper stage. The launch was arranged…Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
Kosmos 2251
Defunct Russian military communications satellite, operational from 1993 to 1995
Kosmos-2251 was a Russian Strela-2M military communications satellite. It was launched into Low Earth orbit from Site 132/1 at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome at 04:17 UTC on 16 June 1993, by a Kosmos-3M carrier rocket. The Strela satellites had a lifespan of 5 years, and the Russian…Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
2009 satellite collision
First hypervelocity spacecraft collision
On February 10, 2009, two communications satellites—the active commercial Iridium 33 and the derelict Russian military Kosmos 2251—accidentally collided at a speed of 11.7 km/s (26,000 mph) and an altitude of 789 kilometres (490 mi) above the Taymyr Peninsula in Siberia. It was…Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)