Recently, spaceX founder Elon Musk's "Starlink" satellite caused the Chinese space station to "emergency avoidance" twice caused heated discussion. Many Chinese netizens are dissatisfied with Musk's wanton occupation of space resources, and a number of foreign media have also paid attention to the report.
The Chinese space station was twice emergency to avoid collisions
The note verbale documents disclosed on the official website of the United Nations show that the "Starlink" satellite launched by SpaceX (Space Exploration Technology Corporation) has approached the Chinese space station twice this year.
For safety reasons, the Chinese space station assembly implemented preventive collision avoidance control ("emergency collision avoidance") twice in July and October.
Starlink satellites launched by Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) of the United States of America have had two close encounters with the China Space Station. For safety reasons, the China Space Station implemented preventive collision avoidance control on July 1 and Oct 21 2021, respectively.
Screenshot of part of the Note from the Chinese side
The United States ignores its international treaty obligations in outer space
As soon as the news came out, many netizens expressed dissatisfaction with Musk's "Starlink" plan...
Foreign media also quoted many Weibo netizens in the report, and said that Musk's image among Chinese netizens was damaged as a result:
Beijing’s complaint prompted heavy criticism on Chinese social media of Musk, whose electric car firm Tesla sells tens of thousands of vehicles in China each month. Musk is widely admired in China, although Tesla’s reputation has been tarnished after a rash of recent crashes and scandals.
One hashtag on the Weibo social networking platform recorded 90m views on Tuesday. “How ironic that Chinese people buy Tesla, contributing large sums of money so Musk can launch Starlink, and then he (nearly) crashes into China’s space station,” one user said.
“Prepare to boycott Tesla,” said another Weibo user, echoing a common response in China to foreign brands perceived to be acting contrary to national interests.
Some speculated that Washington would have imposed sanctions if the roles were reversed. “Why don’t we just do what they do?” one wrote.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian also responded at a press conference on December 28. He pointed out that the United States claims to be the so-called concept of responsible outer space behavior, but it ignores the obligations of international treaties in outer space, posing a serious threat to the safety of astronauts' lives, which is a typical double standard.
The US claims to be a strong advocate for the concept of "responsible behavior in outer space", but it disregarded its Treaty obligations and posed a grave threat to the safety of astronauts. This is typical double standard.
Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs
At the same time, Zhao Lijian stressed that the US side should respect the international system of outer space based on international law, take immediate measures to prevent the recurrence of such incidents, adopt a responsible attitude, and safeguard the life safety of astronauts in orbit and the safe and stable operation of space facilities.
Foreign media are concerned about the controversy caused by the "Starlink" plan
China's attitude towards this matter has also aroused the attention and discussion of foreign media. Reuters reported that some Chinese netizens complained about SpaceX's "making space junk"; the Guardian, The Independent, The Financial Times, the BBC, Al Jazeera and other media also quoted Chinese netizens commenting on the matter.
In the Guardian report, Jonathan McDonald's Center for Astrophysics at the Harvard-Smithsonian Institution said that due to the number of satellites launched into space and their speed, the risk of collision is increasing, and the avoidance behavior is correspondingly increasing.
Evasive manoeuvres to reduce the risk of collisions in space were becoming more frequent owing to the number and speed at which satellites were being launched, said Jonathan McDowell, of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.
Among them, the influence of "Starlink" is one of the main factors. He also said it was extremely unusual for a country to make a statement through an information publishing platform. Any collision could "destroy" the Chinese space station.
“Starlink is a big part of that,” McDowell said, adding that it was “highly unusual” for a country to lodge a complaint through an “informational bulletin”. Any collision would be likely to “completely demolish” the Chinese space station, he said.
According to public information, Musk proposed the "Starlink" plan in 2014 to try to build a satellite Internet covering the whole world and send the first 60 satellites into space in 2019. The plan will eventually launch 42,000 satellites into space, of which 1,900 have already been launched.
The BBC commented that scientists have shown concern about space collisions and called on governments to share information on about 30,000 satellites orbiting the Earth and space debris.
Scientists have voiced concerns about the risks of collisions in space and called on world governments to share information about the estimated 30,000 satellites and other space debris that are orbiting Earth.
The BBC also mentioned that last month, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) abruptly announced plans to postpone a spacewalk outside the International Space Station, citing fears of encountering "space debris".
Last month, the US space agency NASA abruptly postponed a spacewalk from the International Space Station over concerns about space debris.
According to the Observer Network, as early as 2019, the "Starlink" satellite almost collided with the European Space Agency's "Fengshen" Earth observation satellite, and Musk's proud automatic collision avoidance technology did not seem to work at that time.
Today, Starlink satellites have been implicated in about 1,600 spacecraft proximity events, accounting for half of all spacecraft events.
Note: This article is a synthesis of reports from China Daily Bilingual News (id: ChinaDaily_mobile) and The Guardian.