WHO HAS CONTROL OVER SPACE?

SpaceX and NASA should come to an agreement about satellite traffic management.

Two retired satellites orbiting Earth made a very close approach to each other in January 2020. The two decommissioned satellites orbiting Earth made a close approach to one another at a speed of 33,000mph (53,000 kilometers/hr), coming within 210 feet (65m).

NASA’s satellites as well the Starlink satellites providing internet service from SpaceX are not to be involved in an accident like this. The two organizations have agreed that they will share information about which spacecraft they are flying. This will settle the issue of who has the right to fly. According to the safety deal, which was announced March 18, 20,21, it was NASA.

According to the NASA release: “SpaceX has acknowledged that its Starlink spacecraft will either manually or autonomously maneuver to assure the missions and assets of NASA science satellites can continue uninterrupted from the collision avoidance perspective.”

NASA will not send its satellites to any potential conjunction in order to avoid any confusion. These agencies won’t be able to maneuver into one another in an attempt to avoid a collision.

NO YOU FIRST

The importance of avoiding satellite smashups in space is increasing with the boom in the commercial space sector.

According to Jonathan McDowell (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics), the number of satellite launch payloads in 2020 increased to 1,261 — almost twice the amount in 2019 (522), as per statistics. SpaceX launched 833 Starlink satellites last ye, which account for the bulk of this increase.

NASA issued a handbook that detailed best practices to avoid collisions in low-Earth orbit in order to address the problem.