"As far as we know, no coordination or deconfliction with existing satellites operating in space was performed, resulting in a 200 meter close approach between one of the deployed satellites and STARLINK-6079 (56120) at 560 km altitude. Most of the risk of operating in space comes from the lack of coordination between satellite operators — this needs to change.”
— Michael Nicolls, vice president of Starlink engineering at SpaceX
One of SpaceX's Starlink internet satellites just dodged a bullet in orbit.
That bullet was one of the 9 spacecraft that launched atop a 
Kinetica 1 (力箭一号) rocket on Dec 10 Beijing time from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert. It zoomed dangerously close to a Starlink satellite, according to SpaceX, which was none too pleased with the close shave.
Kinetica 1 lofted 6 Chinese multifunctional satellites, an Earth-observation satellite for the UAE, a scientific satellite for Egypt and an educational satellite for Nepal.
Nicolls' post did not specify which of these spacecraft zoomed close to the Starlink satellite.
Kinetica 1 is a 30 meters solid-fuel rocket operated by CAS Space (中科宇航). The company, which is based in Guangzhou, responded to Nicolls' post, saying that it did its due diligence as the launch services provider (LSP) but is looking into the incident nonetheless.
"Our team is currently in contact for more details. All CAS Space launches select their launch windows using the ground-based space awareness system to avoid collisions with known satellites/debris. This is a mandatory procedure. We will work on identifying the exact details and provide assistance as the LSP," CAS Space said via X on Dec 13 Beijing time.
"If confirmed, this incident occurred nearly 48 hours after payload separation, by which time the launch mission had long concluded. CAS Space will coordinate with satellite operators to proceed. This calls for re-establishing collaborations between the two New Space ecosystems," the company added in another X post a few hours later.
space.com/space-explorat
chinadaily.com.cn/a/202512/11/WS
Kinetica 1 (力箭一号) rocket on Dec 10 Beijing time from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert. It zoomed dangerously close to a Starlink satellite, according to SpaceX, which was none too pleased with the close shave.
Kinetica 1 lofted 6 Chinese multifunctional satellites, an Earth-observation satellite for the UAE, a scientific satellite for Egypt and an educational satellite for Nepal.
Nicolls' post did not specify which of these spacecraft zoomed close to the Starlink satellite.
Kinetica 1 is a 30 meters solid-fuel rocket operated by CAS Space (中科宇航). The company, which is based in Guangzhou, responded to Nicolls' post, saying that it did its due diligence as the launch services provider (LSP) but is looking into the incident nonetheless.
"Our team is currently in contact for more details. All CAS Space launches select their launch windows using the ground-based space awareness system to avoid collisions with known satellites/debris. This is a mandatory procedure. We will work on identifying the exact details and provide assistance as the LSP," CAS Space said via X on Dec 13 Beijing time.
"If confirmed, this incident occurred nearly 48 hours after payload separation, by which time the launch mission had long concluded. CAS Space will coordinate with satellite operators to proceed. This calls for re-establishing collaborations between the two New Space ecosystems," the company added in another X post a few hours later.
space.com/space-explorat
chinadaily.com.cn/a/202512/11/WS