A close call in space occurred last week when a newly launched Chinese satellite came within a few hundred meters of one of the approximately 9,000 Starlink satellites operating in low Earth orbit. SpaceX is pointing fingers at the satellite operator for failing to share vital location data. “When satellite operators do not share ephemeris for their satellites, dangerously close approaches can occur in space,” stated Michael Nicolls, VP of Starlink Engineering. “Recently, nine satellites were deployed from a launch at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Northwestern China. To our knowledge, there was no coordination or deconfliction with existing satellites, leading to a 200-meter close approach between one of the new satellites and STARLINK-6079 (56120) at an altitude of 560 km.”
Starlink satellites can automatically change their trajectory to avoid potential collisions, but they need to know about these objects for the system to be effective. In just the first six months of 2025, Starlink spacecraft performed over 144,000 avoidance maneuvers. “Our team is currently reaching out for more details. All CAS Space launches choose their launch windows using a ground-based space awareness system to prevent collisions with known satellites and debris. This is a mandatory procedure,” Nicolls added.
The commercial space launch company based in Guangzhou, China, seemed to shift the responsibility, stating that the incident “occurred nearly 48 hours after payload separation, by which time the launch mission had long concluded.” There are currently over 24,000 objects, including satellites and debris, being monitored in low Earth orbit, which is a 76 percent increase since 2019, according to Space. By the end of this decade, that number could rise to as many as 70,000 satellites, mainly supporting space internet constellations from private and government entities in the US, China, and Europe.
