juliensimon/orbital-fragmentation-events

---
license: cc-by-4.0
pretty_name: "Orbital Fragmentation Events"
language:
- en
description: "Catalog of 1,073 orbital fragmentation events derived from the NORAD SATCAT via CelesTrak. Each event represents a launch that produced significant cataloged debris from breakups, explosions, collisions, or anomalous events. Includes parent object identification, debris counts, and orbital parameters."
task_categories:
- tabular-classification
tags:
- space
- debris
- fragmentation
- orbital-mechanics
- collisions
- open-data
- tabular-data
size_categories:
- n<1K
configs:
- config_name: default
data_files:
- split: train
path: data/fragmentation-events.parquet
default: true
---

# Orbital Fragmentation Events

*Part of the [Orbital Mechanics Datasets](https://huggingface.co/collections/juliensimon/orbital-mechanics-datasets-69c24caca4ab3934c9856994) collection on Hugging Face.*

Catalog of **1,073** orbital fragmentation events derived from the NORAD Satellite Catalog
(SATCAT) via [CelesTrak](https://celestrak.org/). A fragmentation event is identified as any launch
that produced 4 or more cataloged debris objects, indicating an in-orbit breakup caused
by explosions, collisions, anomalous events, or deliberate destruction.

## Dataset description

Every significant breakup event in Earth orbit since 1960 is captured in this dataset. When a
satellite or rocket body fragments -- whether from a propulsion failure, accidental collision, deliberate
destruction (e.g., anti-satellite tests), or unexplained anomaly -- it produces tracked debris objects
cataloged by the 18th Space Defense Squadron. This dataset aggregates those debris back to their
parent launch, identifying the primary spacecraft or rocket body involved and computing debris
statistics. It is inspired by the methodology used in NASA's "History of On-Orbit Satellite
Fragmentations" technical report series published by the Orbital Debris Program Office.

## Schema

| Column | Type | Description |
|--------|------|-------------|
| `parent_object_id` | string | International designator of parent object (COSPAR ID) |
| `parent_norad_id` | int32 | NORAD catalog number of the parent object |
| `parent_name` | string | Name of the parent spacecraft or rocket body |
| `parent_object_type` | string | `PAY` (payload), `R/B` (rocket body), `DEB` (debris) |
| `country_code` | string | Owner/operator country or organization code |
| `launch_date` | datetime | Date of the original launch (UTC) |
| `launch_year` | int32 | Year of launch (for grouping/filtering) |
| `launch_site` | string | Launch site code |
| `debris_cataloged` | int32 | Total number of cataloged debris pieces from this event |
| `debris_on_orbit` | int32 | Number of debris pieces still in orbit |
| `debris_decayed` | int32 | Number of debris pieces that have reentered |
| `decay_pct` | float | Percentage of debris that has decayed |
| `apogee_km` | float | Apogee altitude of parent object orbit (km) |
| `perigee_km` | float | Perigee altitude of parent object orbit (km) |
| `altitude_km` | float | Mean orbital altitude (km) |
| `inclination_deg` | float | Orbital inclination (degrees) |
| `period_min` | float | Orbital period (minutes) |
| `orbit_type` | string | LEO, MEO, GEO, or HEO |

## Quick stats

- **1,073** fragmentation events spanning **1960** to **2026**
- **32,567** total cataloged debris, **11,920** still on orbit
- Orbit distribution: LEO (947), MEO (65), GEO (47), unknown (8), HEO (6)
- Top countries: CIS (618), US (267), PRC (99), JPN (22), FR (13)

### Most prolific breakup events

| Parent Object | Country | Debris Cataloged | On Orbit | Altitude (km) |
|---------------|---------|----------------:|----------:|---------------:|
| FENGYUN 1C | PRC | 3,534 | 2,343 | 803 |
| COSMOS 1408 | CIS | 1,806 | 5 | 146 |
| COSMOS 2251 | CIS | 1,716 | 639 | 781 |
| YUNHAI-3 01 | PRC | 793 | 631 | 848 |
| STEP 2 | US | 753 | 58 | 597 |

## Usage

```python
from datasets import load_dataset

ds = load_dataset("juliensimon/orbital-fragmentation-events", split="train")
df = ds.to_pandas()

# Most prolific breakups
df.nlargest(10, "debris_cataloged")[["parent_name", "debris_cataloged", "debris_on_orbit"]]

# Events still polluting orbit (>90% debris remaining)
active_pollution = df[df["decay_pct"] < 10].sort_values("debris_on_orbit", ascending=False)

# Breakups by orbit type
df.groupby("orbit_type")["debris_cataloged"].sum()

# Events by decade
df["decade"] = (df["launch_year"] // 10) * 10
df.groupby("decade")["parent_norad_id"].count()

# Country breakdown
df.groupby("country_code")["debris_cataloged"].agg(["count", "sum"]).sort_values("sum", ascending=False).head(10)
```

## Data source

Derived from the [CelesTrak SATCAT](https://celestrak.org/pub/satcat.csv), which mirrors the
official US Space Command catalog maintained by the 18th Space Defense Squadron. Fragmentation
events are identified by grouping cataloged debris objects by their international designator prefix
(launch ID) and filtering for launches with 4+ debris pieces.

For authoritative event-by-event analysis including assessed causes, see NASA's
[History of On-Orbit Satellite Fragmentations](https://orbitaldebris.jsc.nasa.gov/) report series.

## Related datasets

- [reentry-events](https://huggingface.co/datasets/juliensimon/reentry-events) -- Atmospheric reentry catalog
- [space-track-satcat](https://huggingface.co/datasets/juliensimon/space-track-satcat) -- Full NORAD satellite catalog
- [active-satellites](https://huggingface.co/datasets/juliensimon/active-satellites) -- Currently operational spacecraft

## Pipeline

Source code: [juliensimon/space-datasets](https://github.com/juliensimon/space-datasets)

## Citation

```bibtex
@dataset{fragmentation_events,
author = {Simon, Julien},
title = {Orbital Fragmentation Events},
year = {2026},
publisher = {Hugging Face},
url = {https://huggingface.co/datasets/juliensimon/orbital-fragmentation-events},
note = {Derived from NORAD SATCAT via CelesTrak (Dr. T.S. Kelso)}
}
```

## License

[CC-BY-4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

license: CC-BY-4.0
pretty_name: "轨道碎裂事件"
language:
- en
description: "本数据集为通过赛莱斯特拉克（CelesTrak）从北美防空司令部（NORAD）卫星目录（SATCAT）中提取的1073个轨道碎裂事件目录。每个事件对应一次产生了大量可编目碎片的发射任务，这些碎片源于轨道碎裂、爆炸、碰撞或异常事件。数据集包含母天体标识、碎片数量统计及轨道参数。"
task_categories:
- tabular-classification
tags:
- space
- debris
- fragmentation
- orbital-mechanics
- collisions
- open-data
- tabular-data
size_categories:
- n<1K
configs:
- config_name: default
data_files:
- split: train
path: data/fragmentation-events.parquet
default: true

# 轨道碎裂事件

*隶属于Hugging Face平台上的[轨道力学数据集合集](https://huggingface.co/collections/juliensimon/orbital-mechanics-datasets-69c24caca4ab3934c9856994)。*

本数据集包含通过[CelesTrak](https://celestrak.org/)从北美防空司令部（NORAD）卫星目录（SATCAT）中提取的**1073个**轨道碎裂事件。轨道碎裂事件被定义为产生4个及以上可编目碎片的发射任务，对应由爆炸、碰撞、异常事件或蓄意破坏引发的在轨碎裂事件。

## 数据集说明

本数据集收录了1960年以来地球轨道上所有重大碎裂事件。当卫星或火箭箭体发生碎裂——无论源于推进系统故障、意外碰撞、蓄意破坏（例如反卫星试验）或不明原因的异常事件——都会产生可被追踪的碎片物体，并由美国第18空间防御中队编入目录。本数据集将这些碎片按其母发射任务进行聚合，识别出涉及的主航天器或火箭箭体，并计算碎片统计数据。本数据集的构建方法参考了美国国家航空航天局（NASA）轨道碎片项目办公室发布的《在轨卫星碎裂历史》系列技术报告。

## 数据结构

| 列名 | 数据类型 | 描述 |
|--------|------|-------------|
| `parent_object_id` | string | 母天体的国际空间研究委员会（COSPAR）标识号 |
| `parent_norad_id` | int32 | 母天体的NORAD编目编号 |
| `parent_name` | string | 母航天器或火箭箭体名称 |
| `parent_object_type` | string | 类型标识：`PAY`（有效载荷，Payload）、`R/B`（火箭箭体，Rocket Body）、`DEB`（碎片，Debris） |
| `country_code` | string | 所有者/运营者国家或组织代码 |
| `launch_date` | datetime | 原始发射日期（UTC时间） |
| `launch_year` | int32 | 发射年份（用于分组/筛选） |
| `launch_site` | string | 发射场代码 |
| `debris_cataloged` | int32 | 本次事件产生的编目碎片总数 |
| `debris_on_orbit` | int32 | 仍在轨运行的碎片数量 |
| `debris_decayed` | int32 | 已再入大气层的碎片数量 |
| `decay_pct` | float | 已再入大气层的碎片占比 |
| `apogee_km` | float | 母天体轨道远地点高度（单位：千米） |
| `perigee_km` | float | 母天体轨道近地点高度（单位：千米） |
| `altitude_km` | float | 平均轨道高度（单位：千米） |
| `inclination_deg` | float | 轨道倾角（单位：度） |
| `period_min` | float | 轨道周期（单位：分钟） |
| `orbit_type` | string | 轨道类型：近地轨道（Low Earth Orbit, LEO）、中地球轨道（Medium Earth Orbit, MEO）、地球静止轨道（Geostationary Earth Orbit, GEO）或高椭圆轨道（Highly Elliptical Orbit, HEO） |

## 快速统计

- **1073**个碎裂事件，时间跨度为**1960年至2026年**
- 累计编目碎片**32567个**，其中**11920个仍在轨**
- 轨道类型分布：近地轨道（LEO，947次）、中地球轨道（MEO，65次）、地球静止轨道（GEO，47次）、未知轨道（8次）、高椭圆轨道（HEO，6次）
- 事件数量排名靠前的国家/地区：独联体（CIS，618次）、美国（US，267次）、中国（PRC，99次）、日本（JPN，22次）、法国（FR，13次）

### 高影响碎裂事件

| 母天体名称 | 所属国家/地区 | 编目碎片数量 | 在轨碎片数量 | 轨道高度（千米） |
|---------------|---------|----------------:|----------:|---------------:|
| 风云一号C星（FENGYUN 1C） | 中国（PRC） | 3534 | 2343 | 803 |
| 宇宙1408号（COSMOS 1408） | 独联体（CIS） | 1806 | 5 | 146 |
| 宇宙2251号（COSMOS 2251） | 独联体（CIS） | 1716 | 639 | 781 |
| 云海三号01星（YUNHAI-3 01） | 中国（PRC） | 793 | 631 | 848 |
| 步骤2号（STEP 2） | 美国（US） | 753 | 58 | 597 |

## 使用方法

python
from datasets import load_dataset

ds = load_dataset("juliensimon/orbital-fragmentation-events", split="train")
df = ds.to_pandas()

# 高影响碎裂事件排名
df.nlargest(10, "debris_cataloged")[["parent_name", "debris_cataloged", "debris_on_orbit"]]

# 仍持续污染轨道的事件（碎片衰减率<10%）
active_pollution = df[df["decay_pct"] < 10].sort_values("debris_on_orbit", ascending=False)

# 按轨道类型统计碎裂事件的碎片总数
df.groupby("orbit_type")["debris_cataloged"].sum()

# 按十年分组统计事件数量
df["decade"] = (df["launch_year"] // 10) * 10
df.groupby("decade")["parent_norad_id"].count()

# 按国家/地区统计
df.groupby("country_code")["debris_cataloged"].agg(["count", "sum"]).sort_values("sum", ascending=False).head(10)

## 数据来源

本数据集源于[CelesTrak卫星目录](https://celestrak.org/pub/satcat.csv)，该目录镜像了由美国第18空间防御中队维护的美国太空司令部官方卫星目录。轨道碎裂事件的识别方法为：按国际标识前缀（发射ID）对编目碎片物体进行分组，并筛选出碎片数量≥4的发射任务。

如需获取包含事件成因评估在内的权威逐事件分析，请参阅美国国家航空航天局（NASA）发布的《在轨卫星碎裂历史》系列报告（[链接](https://orbitaldebris.jsc.nasa.gov/)）。

## 相关数据集

- [reentry-events](https://huggingface.co/datasets/juliensimon/reentry-events) -- 大气再入事件目录
- [space-track-satcat](https://huggingface.co/datasets/juliensimon/space-track-satcat) -- 完整NORAD卫星目录
- [active-satellites](https://huggingface.co/datasets/juliensimon/active-satellites) -- 现役航天器列表

## 数据流水线

源代码仓库：[juliensimon/space-datasets](https://github.com/juliensimon/space-datasets)

## 引用格式

bibtex
@dataset{fragmentation_events,
author = {Simon, Julien},
title = {Orbital Fragmentation Events},
year = {2026},
publisher = {Hugging Face},
url = {https://huggingface.co/datasets/juliensimon/orbital-fragmentation-events},
note = {Derived from NORAD SATCAT via CelesTrak (Dr. T.S. Kelso)}
}

## 许可证

[CC-BY-4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)