Elon Musk denies SpaceX satellites are blocking space in wake of Chinese complaints about Tiangong’s near miss
- Beijing lodged a protest at the UN, saying its space station had been forced to take evasive action to avoid a collision with one of Musk’s satellites
- Tesla boss insists there is room for ‘tens of billions’ of spacecraft to orbit the earth and ‘we’ve not blocked anyone from doing anything’
The Tesla founder told the Financial Times that there is room for “tens of billions” of spacecraft to orbit the earth, adding: “This is not some situation where we’re effectively blocking others in any way. We’ve not blocked anyone from doing anything, nor do we expect to.”
The comments were in response to a claim from Josef Aschbacher, head of the European Space Agency, that Musk was “making the rules” for the commercial space industry.
China recently complained that its Tiangong space station had had two “close encounters” with SpaceX Starlink satellites this year, forcing it to alter course to avoid a collision.
In a diplomatic note presented to the United Nations earlier this month, the Chinese delegation requested that the UN secretary general remind countries of their “international responsibility for national activities in outer space … whether such activities are carried on by governmental agencies or by non-governmental entities”.
Musk faced heavy criticism from Chinese internet users after the country’s media reported details of the complaint earlier this week.
“Come out and explain the Starlink satellites, which have threatened the lives and health of our astronauts,” one person commented on Weibo, China’s Twitter-like social media platform.