SpaceX satellites have approached the Chinese space station twice this year

IT House December 27 news, according to the Global Network reported that according to the documents released by the official website of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, the Chinese Permanent Mission to the United Nations (Vienna) submitted a note verbale to the United Nations Secretary-General in early December, saying that the Starlink satellite launched by the US Space Exploration Technology Corporation (Spacex) has approached the Chinese space station twice this year, posing a danger to the lives and health of astronauts carried by the Chinese space station. For security reasons, the Chinese space station assembly has twice implemented "emergency collision avoidance" for relevant US satellites.

The note said that in 2021, China's manned space project implemented 5 launch missions, successfully launched the space station Tianhe core module, Tianzhou-2 and Tianzhou-3 cargo spacecraft, Shenzhou XII and Shenzhou 13 manned spacecraft into orbit. The Chinese space station assembly is stable in a near-circular Earth orbit at an altitude of 390 kilometers, with an orbital inclination of about 41.5°.

During this period, the StarLink satellite launched by spaceX approached the Chinese space station twice. For safety reasons, the space station assembly implemented preventative collision avoidance control ("emergency collision avoidance") for the U.S. Starlink satellite on July 1 and October 21, respectively. The specifics are as follows:

First emergency avoidance

The U.S. Starlink-1095 satellite has been operating steadily since April 19, 2020, in an orbit with an average altitude of about 555 kilometers. From May 16 to June 24, 2021, the satellite continued to orbit down orbit to an average orbital altitude of 382 kilometers before remaining operating at that orbital altitude. On July 1, the satellite experienced a close-up event between the Chinese space station. For safety reasons, the Chinese space station took the initiative to avoid collisions on the evening of July 1, avoiding the risk of collision between the two targets.

Second emergency avoidance

On October 21, 2021, the U.S. Starlink-2305 satellite had a close proximity incident with the Chinese space station. Given that the satellite is in a continuous orbit maneuver, the maneuvering strategy is unknown and the orbital error cannot be assessed, and there is a risk of collision with the space station. In order to ensure the safety of astronauts in orbit, the Chinese space station once again implemented emergency collision avoidance on the same day, avoiding the risk of collision between the two targets.

It houses have learned that the note noted that China requested the Secretary-General of the United Nations to inform the States parties to the Outer Space Treaty of the above-mentioned information and to draw the attention of the States parties to the fact that, in accordance with article 6 of the Outer Space Treaty, "each State party shall bear international responsibility for its activities in outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, whether governmental or non-governmental organizations, and shall be responsible for ensuring that the implementation of its activities complies with the provisions of this Treaty." ”