The Air Force’s Joint Space Operations Center said Jan. 20 that it had identified a “possible breakup” of a Russian Breeze-M upper stage, shown above being attached to a satellite.

The Dec. 9 failure of a Breeze M upper stage was caused by “a combination of adverse conditions” that damaged a bearing in the engine’s oxygen turbopump.

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Peter B. de Selding was the Paris Bureau Chief for SpaceNews.