# Fireballs seen from orbit

*Every bolide the US government sensors have reported*

Rocks that hit the atmosphere hard enough to be seen from space. Nearly all of them burn up; the energy is what the sensors measured being released, in kilotonnes of TNT equivalent.

| | |
| --- | --- |
| Events on file | 883 |
| First and last | 1988-04-15 to 2026-08-15 |
| Above one kilotonne | 116 |
| All of them together | 1,162.8 kt |
| Largest | 441 kt on 2013-02-15 |

Energy, height and speed are measured; the diameter and mass this site shows elsewhere are derived from them assuming a stony body, and are estimates rather than measurements. Detection is not even across the globe or across the years, so this is a record of what was reported and not a census of what arrived.

## The 25 largest

| When | Energy | Height | Speed | Where |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2013-02-15 | 441 kt | 23.3 km | 18.6 km/s | 54.8° N, 61.1° E |
| 2018-12-18 | 49 kt | 26 km | 13.6 km/s | 56.9° N, 172.4° E |
| 2009-10-08 | 33 kt | 19.1 km | 19.2 km/s | 4.2° S, 120.6° E |
| 1994-02-01 | 30 kt | — | — | 2.7° N, 164.1° E |
| 2009-11-21 | 20 kt | 38 km | 32.1 km/s | 22.0° S, 29.2° E |
| 2004-10-07 | 18 kt | 35 km | 19.2 km/s | 27.3° S, 71.5° E |
| 2010-07-06 | 14 kt | 26 km | 15.7 km/s | 34.1° S, 174.5° W |
| 2006-12-09 | 14 kt | 26.5 km | 15.9 km/s | 26.2° N, 26.0° E |
| 1988-04-15 | 14 kt | — | — | 4.1° S, 124.3° E |
| 2016-02-06 | 13 kt | 31 km | 15.6 km/s | 30.4° S, 25.5° W |
| 2004-09-03 | 13 kt | 31.5 km | — | 67.7° S, 18.2° E |
| 2020-12-22 | 12 kt | 35.5 km | 13.6 km/s | 31.9° N, 96.2° E |
| 2013-04-30 | 9.8 kt | 21.2 km | 12.1 km/s | 35.5° N, 30.7° W |
| 1999-01-14 | 9.8 kt | 32 km | — | 44.0° S, 129.7° W |
| 2010-12-25 | 9.7 kt | 26 km | 18.1 km/s | 38.0° N, 158.0° E |
| 2001-04-23 | 9 kt | 29 km | — | 28.0° N, 133.6° W |
| 2002-06-06 | 8.8 kt | — | — | 34.0° N, 21.0° E |
| 2002-06-02 | 8.8 kt | — | — | 34.0° N, 21.0° E |
| 2017-12-15 | 7.9 kt | 20 km | 31.4 km/s | 60.2° N, 170.0° E |
| 2014-08-23 | 7.6 kt | 22.2 km | 16.2 km/s | 61.7° S, 132.6° E |
| 2000-02-18 | 7.3 kt | — | — | 0.9° S, 109.2° E |
| 2023-05-20 | 7.1 kt | 29 km | 27.9 km/s | 17.8° S, 141.9° E |
| 2022-02-07 | 7 kt | 26.5 km | 13.1 km/s | 28.7° S, 11.4° E |
| 2013-01-25 | 6.9 kt | — | — | 60.3° N, 64.6° W |
| 2023-04-15 | 6.5 kt | 41.4 km | 17.2 km/s | 20.1° S, 36.0° E |

## Elsewhere

- These on the live map: https://www.orbitalmap.space/
- Every object: https://www.orbitalmap.space/o/
- What this site is and what it reads: https://www.orbitalmap.space/llms.txt

## Where this came from

Compiled 2026-09-03. From CNEOS Fireballs - NASA/JPL, https://cneos.jpl.nasa.gov/fireballs/. Licence: public-domain (US Government).