A Russian Briz-M rocket stage broke apart in orbit last week and created a cloud of debris in Geosynchronous Orbit. The Joint Space Operations Center identified the possible break-up of the rocket stage on January 20 when at least ten pieces of debris were identified in close orbital proximity to the spent rocket body.

The Briz-M upper stage in question was involved in the launch of the Garpun No. 12L military communications satellite on December 13, 2015. Lifting off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome atop a Proton-M rocket, the Briz-M upper stage came into action just under ten minutes after liftoff when it assumed control for a mission of around nine hours, featuring four burns of the Briz-M to insert the classified satellite directly into Geostationary Orbit. Launch success was announced by Roscosmos, though details on orbital parameters or information on the payload were not provided given the military nature of the mission.

It took one week for western radars to spot the satellite in Geostationary Orbit and the Briz-M rocket stage was found in an orbit around 33,400 by 35,800 Kilometers after going through a pair of maneuvers following spacecraft separation to enter a graveyard orbit. Typically, when its mission is complete, Briz-M vents its main propellant and high-pressure propulsion systems as well as pressurant gas tanks to enter a passive state in its graveyard orbit.

A possible break-up of the Briz-M upper stage was identified at 19 UTC on January 20 when at least ten debris were found close to the spent rocket body. Analysis performed by JSpOC narrowed down the timing of the event to 3:50 UTC +/-4 minutes on the 16. The debris have not yet been cataloged as additional data is needed to get a precise fix on orbital parameters for each piece, plus time is required for debris to separate to get an accurate count and appropriate designations.

A look at the orbital data for the Briz-M upper stage shows no significant changes over the usual drift of perigee and apogee altitudes in this type of orbit.

Briz-M upper stages are known suspects when it comes to in-orbit debris events including explosions with three major events in the last decade alone.