Starlink and Chinese satellites narrowly miss each other

• SpaceX's Starlink satellites narrowly avoided a collision with recently launched satellites from Chinese firm CAS Space, coming within 200 metres of each other.
• Michael Nicholls, SpaceX's VP of Starlink engineering, stated that a lack of coordination and shared ephemeris data from the Chinese operator prevented SpaceX from steering its satellites away.
• Nicholls emphasised that the absence of data sharing between satellite operators is the primary risk in space and called for urgent change.
• CAS Space acknowledged the incident, which occurred nearly 48 hours after payload separation, and agreed on the necessity for re-establishing collaboration between new space ecosystems.
• Experts warn that increasing space traffic and uncoordinated launches heighten the risk of collisions, potentially leading to 'Kessler Syndrome', where debris could render low-Earth orbit unusable.