(Image credit: Starlink)

There was a notably “dangerously close” approach between a newly launched Chinese satellite and Starlink-6079 a few days ago. VP of SpaceX’s Starlink Engineering, Michael Nicolls, disclosed that a Chinese satellite came within 200m (219 yards) of an orbiting Starlink device. That’s an extremely close call with catastrophe, with Starlink LEO satellites known to travel at speeds exceeding 17,400mph. Nicholls called for improved coordination between space agencies.

When satellite operators do not share ephemeris for their satellites, dangerously close approaches can occur in space. A few days ago, 9 satellites were deployed from a launch from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Northwestern China. As far as we know, no coordination or…December 13, 2025

Nicolls emphasized that near-misses like this will continue to happen. “Most of the risk of operating in space comes from the lack of coordination between satellite operators,” claimed the Starlink VP. “This needs to change.” Indeed, change is required to prevent the near-miss news, bad as it is, from taking a tragic twist.

There are approximately 12,000 active satellites now in LEO space, with probably 8,000 operated by Starlink. Starlink satellites travel at incredible speeds, exceeding 17,400mph, so a collision could easily destroy anything involved.

Moreover, the resulting high-velocity debris fragments, in their thousands, could cause far more damage, with some commenters on Nicolls’ post raising the specter of the Kessler Syndrome. That would be a chain reaction of collisions, exponentially increasing debris, and potentially making LEO space unusable for generations to come.

Science can help prevent such an unfortunate outcome, but global coordination is lacking, so a policy push seems to be required. China doesn’t notify or share trajectories to voluntary platforms such as the U.S. Space-Track.org or the UN’s International Telecommunications Union. Hopefully, it won’t need to see a massive space incident to prompt it into some sensible preventative collaborative action.

If you think LEO space is crowded now...

Meanwhile, plans for greater numbers of LEO satellites are forging ahead, cranking up the chance/danger of a collision. Starlink plans to expand its constellation to around 42,000 for global internet coverage. Amazon Leo has plans for over 3,200 satellites. In China, Guowang talks about targeting 13,000 satellites, and Shanghai Spacecom has mentioned a target of 14,000. Over in Europe, the Eutelsat OneWeb constellation numbers 648 satellites, with Gen2 mega-scale rollout still in consultation. And there are more…

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Mark Tyson is a news editor at Tom’s Hardware. He enjoys covering the full breadth of PC tech; from business and semiconductor design to products approaching the edge of reason.