The Soviet meteorological satellite "Meteor-2-7," launched in 1981, has once again broken apart in orbit. The company LeoLabs, which tracks objects in space, recorded the formation of dozens of new fragments during the satellite's pass over a monitoring station in Western Australia, reports [Space](https://www.space.com/space-exploration/satellites/a-dead-soviet-satellite-just-broke-apart-in-orbit-again-experts-say-its-part-of-a-worrying-trend). According to the company's preliminary assessment, numerous debris appeared near the satellite, indicating yet another disintegration of the spacecraft. This incident continues a series of similar events in recent months. In September, the American Cold War-era reconnaissance satellite "USA 32" completely disintegrated, in August a Chinese rocket's upper stage broke apart, and several months earlier a similar incident occurred with a SpaceX Starlink satellite. In January, the disintegration of a Russian inspector satellite in geostationary orbit was also recorded. LeoLabs believes that such events are no longer isolated. "This is the latest in a series of events that we have been observing over the past six months. Taken together, they indicate a troubling trend in the safety and sustainability of space activities and highlight the critical need for continuous monitoring," the company stated. Space debris expert Jim Shell noted that "Meteor-2-7" has broken apart before. According to him, a similar incident with this satellite occurred back in 2004. The current disintegration occurred at an altitude of about 855 kilometers — one of the most congested areas of low Earth orbit, where a large amount of space debris is concentrated. The problem is becoming increasingly severe as the number of satellites grows. The more devices launched into orbit, the higher the likelihood of collisions. Each new disintegration creates additional debris that can damage other spacecraft and trigger new accidents. Statistics confirm this trend. While in 2005 the European Space Agency tracked about 16,000 pieces of space debris, by 2026 their number exceeded 44,000. Despite the small size of most fragments, they travel at immense speeds and can incapacitate a satellite upon collision. The danger is not only from the debris. Satellites are increasingly required to perform avoidance maneuvers. According to SpaceX, each Starlink system satellite averaged more than 40 maneuvers per year from June 2025 to May 2026 to avoid collisions with space debris or other spacecraft. Some experts believe that a collision with an operational satellite is only a matter of time. Professor of Astronautics at the University of Birmingham Hugh Lewis previously stated that such an incident is likely to occur despite ongoing avoidance maneuvers, rather than due to their absence. At the same time, the number of objects in orbit continues to grow. Governments and private companies plan to launch tens of thousands of new satellites, and SpaceX has previously stated long-term plans to increase its orbital constellation to one million devices to develop space infrastructure. The growing amount of space debris is already affecting not only satellites but also the safety of crews. For instance, in February 2026, a backup spacecraft for emergency evacuation on the Chinese space station "Tiangong" was damaged by a piece of space debris, leaving the crew without a backup means of returning to Earth for ten days. Experts warn that without continuous monitoring and measures to reduce space debris, the risks to satellite infrastructure and crewed missions will continue to rise.
