Opinion | US-China row over Elon Musk’s Starlink satellites shows need for space cooperation

Name: SpaceX launches Falcon 9 rocket with 60 Starlink satellites
Uploaded: 2022-01-06T19:30:23.000Z
Duration: 1 min 19 s
Description: SpaceX launches Falcon 9 rocket with 60 Starlink satellites

The near-misses between Starlink satellites and China’s space station highlight the growing danger of collisions in near-Earth orbit

With tens of thousands of satellites set to enter orbit, states must act now to improve communication and risk management in space

Reading Time:4 minutes

Why you can trust SCMP

Jinyuan Su

Published: 3:30am, 7 Jan 2022Updated: 4:59am, 7 Jan 2022

China’s Tiangong space station had to implement “preventive collision avoidance controls” on July 1 and October 21 last year to avoid two Starlink satellites, according to a diplomatic note from China to the UN secretary general on December 3. Starlink is operated by SpaceX, owned by Elon Musk.

In the note, China detailed the two incidents and asked the secretary general to circulate the information to all parties to the Outer Space Treaty and bring to their attention the obligations under Article VI.

The treaty, negotiated during the Cold War, remains the cornerstone of international space law. Article VI says that parties shall bear international responsibility for national activities in outer space, including those carried out by non-governmental entities. Both China and the US are parties to the treaty.

During a press conference on December 28, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told the US to “respect international order in space based on international law, take prompt measures to prevent such incidents from recurring, and act responsibly to safeguard the safety of in-orbit astronauts and the safe and steady operation of space facilities”.

At a press briefing the same day, US State Department spokesman Ned Price declined to respond specifically to China’s claims. He said the US has “encouraged all countries with space programmes to be responsible actors, to avoid acts that may put in danger astronauts, cosmonauts, others who are orbiting the Earth or who have the potential to”.

01:19

SpaceX launches Falcon 9 rocket with 60 Starlink satellites

Musk told the Financial Times on December 29 that there was room for “tens of billions” of satellites in orbit around the planet, denying claims he was squeezing out rivals in space. That came after Josef Aschbacher, the new head of the European Space Agency, warned that the large number of Starlink satellites would result in crowding other operators out of low-Earth orbits.

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00

1.25x