CERISE: Launched 1995

CERISE: Launched 1995

Cerise was a French military reconnaissance satellite. Its main purpose was to intercept HF radio signals for French intelligence services.  

It was hit by a catalogued space debris object from an Ariane rocket in 1996, making it the first verified case of a collision between two objects in space.  The collision tore off a 4.2-metre (13-foot) portion of Cerise's gravity-gradient stabilisation boom, which left the satellite severely damaged, and its performance was compromised.