Elon Musk's SpaceX satellites almost collided in space this week, urging experts to issue a warning over the potential impact of even tiny collisions.
While SpaceX hit a major milestone back in September, launching its 2,000th Starlink satellite this year alone, experts are warning of their impact.
We've recently heard from an astrophysicist warning that Elon Musk's billion-dollar satellite network could pose huge risks to life on Earth, noting that more than 8,000 Starlink satellites currently orbit overhead.
In comments to EarthSky in October, astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell revealed that one to two satellites from SpaceX's company re-enter Earth's atmosphere every single day.
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Now, SpaceX’s Starlink satellites have almost collided with another launch by a Chinese competitor, Musk's space company has stated. The satellites reportedly came within 200 metres of each other. If they'd had actually collided, the consequences would have been devastating.
Due to increasing space traffic above Earth and a lack of coordination among international companies and organisations, experts warn that collisions are becoming more common. Michael Nicholls, the vice president of Starlink engineering at SpaceX, explained that a recent Chinese launch brought satellites dangerously close to Starlink's constellation.
Poor coordination meant SpaceX couldn't steer its satellites away from the newly launched ones, he noted.
“When satellite operators do not share ephemeris for their satellites, dangerously close approaches can occur in space,” Nicholls wrote on X. “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 [a Starlink satellite] at 560 km altitude."
He added: “Most of the risk of operating in space comes from the lack of coordination between satellite operators - this needs to change.”
CAS Space, which launched the satellites in question, didn't allegedly accept responsibility for the near-collision. However, they did agree with Nicholls' call for better collaboration.
“If confirmed, this incident occurred nearly 48 hours after payload separation, by which time the launch mission had long concluded," the company wrote. "CAS Space will coordinate with satellite operators to proceed. This calls for re-establishing collaborations between the two New Space ecosystems.”
In response, Nicholls wrote: “We appreciate the responsiveness and look forward to engaging in coordination for future launches. Establishing data sharing between all satellite operators is critical.”
Beyond the danger of collisions creating damage and debris across the space, experts warn.
Even worse, as well as any potential collision causing damage and debris to be littered across space, experts have forewarned the possibility of 'Kessler Syndrome.' This describes a potential catastrophic scenario where a relatively small collision triggers a domino effect. Satellites collide with the resulting debris, resulting in more debris, which hits more satellites and creates even more fragments.
The cascading destruction could potentially fill low-Earth orbit with so much material that launching new satellites becomes impossible.
Scientists hope this incident could serve as a wake-up call for the space industry.