[ad_1]
A couple of dangerous space encounters are increasing tensions between the US and China as they highlight the potential danger to astronauts as satellite constellations and debris proliferate in orbit.
Two SpaceX satellites nearly crashed with the Chinese space station earlier this year – one at a distance of 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) – in the latest sign of a dangerous overflow into low Earth orbit.
In both cases, the orbiting laboratory performed elusive maneuvers to avoid Starlink satellites operated by Elon Musk’s space company. The spacecraft could have been almost a few hundred meters short in October if astronauts on the space station had not changed to another altitude, according to astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell.
Upcoming meetings prompted the Chinese government to criticize SpaceX in a December 6 note to the UN Commission overseeing space operations. China’s complaints could lead to global actions to manage space congestion.
“Originally, when I saw this UN document in China, I said, ‘It’s a bit of a fortune for the Chinese, considering the space debris they’ve created,'” said McDowell, an astronomer at the Harvard-led Astrophysics Center. University and Smithsonian Institution. “But I think that’s a good sign.”
Addressing the issue at the UN panel, China could push the international community to update a treaty rooted in the Cold War, as well as an informal system that relies on operators to email warnings of potential collisions with each other, McDowell said.
It counts more than 4,800 commercial satellites in operation, about double the total of five years ago, with a radar area of about 19,000 objects enough to be tracked by radar.
The US-partnered International Space Station has responded to its calls for a halt to the waste areas created by Russia in November and China in 2007 as a result of anti-satellite weapons testing.
Until recently, most satellites transmitted signals from fixed locations away from the space where the International Space Station and the China Space Station operate. But that is changing as Space Exploration Technologies Corp., the formal name of Musk, launch OneWeb and other new entrants to launch smaller satellites from low-earth orbit to provide services like broadband.
This activity is led by SpaceX, which has launched more than 1,700 satellites to help finance other space-to-space travel by other companies building a telecommunications arm. Unlike geostationary satellites, Starlink can be maneuvered and equipped with anti-collision technology.
The Chinese note mentions Starlink-1095, which operated at an average altitude of 555 kilometers at the beginning of the year, dropped to 382 kilometers and had a “close encounter” with the China Space Station on July 1. An incident occurred with a separate Starlink satellite. October 21.
The Chinese government issued a warning to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on December 3 at a press conference in Beijing on Tuesday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said. He said the United States has failed to meet its obligations under the Outer Space Pact. The incident endangered station operators, he said.
The U.S. State Department declined to comment specifically on the SpaceX incidents. “We have encouraged all countries with space programs to be responsible actors to prevent actions that could endanger astronauts, cosmonauts and others who may be in orbit around the Earth,” departmental spokesman Ned Price said in a speech Tuesday.
Space competition between the US and China has been heating up in recent years. This month, a leading Chinese scientist said that his country could send astronauts to the moon for the first time by 2030, setting the stage for a duel between the two space powers in the world.
Musk is also the CEO of Tesla Inc., which has received unprecedented political concessions and extensive government support to build a factory in Shanghai. SpaceX did not respond to questions about Starlink incidents.
China launched the Shenzhou-13 spacecraft on October 16 and sent three astronauts on a six-month mission to the country’s Tianhe space station, according to the Xinhua News Agency.
[ad_2]
Source link
