China slams US after space station’s ‘close encounters’ with Musk’s satellites

Published December 29, 2021
Elon Musk unveils his company's latest products in this file photo. — AP
Elon Musk unveils his company's latest products in this file photo. — AP

BEIJING: Beijing on Tuesday accused the United States of irresponsible and unsafe conduct in space over two “close encounters” between the Chinese space station and satellites operated by Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

Tiangong, China’s new space station, had to manoeuvre to avoid colliding with one Starlink satellite in July and with another in October, according to a note submitted by Beijing to the United Nations space agency this month.

The note said the incidents “constituted dangers to the life or health of astronauts aboard the China Space Station”.

“The US... ignores its obligations under international treaties, posing a serious threat to the lives and safety of astronauts,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said at a routine briefing on Tuesday.

Starlink, a division of SpaceX, operates a constellation of close to 2,000 satellites that aims to provide internet access to most parts of Earth.

SpaceX is a private American company, independent of the US military and civilian space agency Nasa.

But China said in its note to the UN that members of the Outer Space Treaty — the foundation of international space law — are also responsible for actions by their non-government entities. SpaceX has not responded to a request for comment.

Evasive manoeuvres to reduce the risk of collisions in space are becoming more frequent as more objects enter Earth’s orbit, said Jonathan McDowell of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

“We’ve really noticed the increase in the number of close passes since Starlink started getting deployed,” he said.

Any collision would likely “completely demolish” the Chinese space station and kill everyone on board, McDowell added.

The core module of China’s station Tiangong — meaning “heavenly palace” — entered orbit earlier this year, and it is expected to become fully operational next year.

Beijing’s complaint about Starlink prompted criticism on Chinese social media of SpaceX’s billionaire founder Musk, who is widely admired in China.

One hashtag about the topic on the Twitter-like Weibo platform racked up 90 million views on Tuesday.

“How ironic that Chinese people buy Tesla, contributing large sums of money so Musk can launch Starlink, and then he (nearly) crashes into China’s space station,” one user commented.

Published in Dawn, December 29th, 2021

Opinion

Editorial

Smog hazard
Updated 05 Nov, 2024

Smog hazard

The catastrophe unfolding in Lahore is a product of authorities’ repeated failure to recognise environmental impact of rapid urbanisation.
Monetary policy
05 Nov, 2024

Monetary policy

IN an aggressive move, the State Bank on Monday reduced its key policy rate by a hefty 250bps to 15pc. This is the...
Cultural power
05 Nov, 2024

Cultural power

AS vital modes of communication, art and culture have the power to overcome social and international barriers....
Disregarding CCI
Updated 04 Nov, 2024

Disregarding CCI

The failure to regularly convene CCI meetings means that the process of democratic decision-making is falling apart.
Defeating TB
04 Nov, 2024

Defeating TB

CONSIDERING the fact that Pakistan has the fifth highest burden of tuberculosis in the world as per the World Health...
Ceasefire charade
Updated 04 Nov, 2024

Ceasefire charade

The US talks of peace, while simultaneously arming and funding their Israeli allies, are doomed to fail, and are little more than a charade.