Starlink claims Chinese launch came within 200 meters of broadband satellite

Asia In Brief A SpaceX executive has claimed that a Chinese satellite launch came within 200 meters of hitting a Starlink satellite.

“A few days ago, 9 satellites were deployed from a launch from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Northwestern China,” Michael Nicolls, a vice president of Starlink engineering at SpaceX wrote on Saturday.

“As far as we know, no coordination or deconfliction with existing satellites operating in space was performed, resulting in a 200 meter close approach between one of the deployed satellites and STARLINK-6079 (56120) at 560 km altitude,” he added.

Nicolls linked to a China Daily report describing a launch by Chinese commercial space outfit CAS Space, seemingly suggesting it was the source of the near-miss.

“Most of the risk of operating in space comes from the lack of coordination between satellite operators,” Nicolls added, before concluding “This needs to change.”

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