Understanding the origin of bright shooting stars and their meteorite samples is among the most ancient of astronomy-related questions, which at larger scales has human consequences1-3. As of today, only approximately 6% of meteorite falls have been firmly linked to their sources (Moon, Mars or asteroid (4) Vesta4-6). Here we show that approximately 70% of meteorites originate from three recent break-ups of D > 30 km asteroids that occurred 5.8, 7.6 and less than about 40 Myr ago. These break-ups, including the well-known Karin family7, took place in the prominent yet old Koronis and Massalia families and are at the origin of the dominance of H and L ordinary chondrites among meteorite falls. These young families are distinguished among all main belt asteroids by having a uniquely high abundance of small fragments. Their size-frequency distribution remained steep for a few tens of millions of years, exceeding temporarily the production of metre-sized fragments by the largest old asteroid families (for example, Flora and Vesta). Supporting evidence includes the existence of associated dust bands8-10, the cosmic-ray exposure ages of H-chondrite meteorites11,12 and the distribution of the pre-atmospheric orbits of meteorites13-15.

Aix Marseille University CNRS CNES LAM Institut Origines Marseille France

Charles University Faculty of Mathematics and Physics Institute of Astronomy Prague Czech Republic

Department of Earth Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences MIT Cambridge MA USA

Department of Space Studies Southwest Research Institute Boulder CO USA

European Southern Observatory Santiago Chile

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