China pointed fingers at the United States today, describing it as irresponsible regarding the problems caused by satellites launched by billionaire Elon Musk's company, SpaceX, late last year. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian stated during a regular press conference in the capital Beijing that "the US did not respond to information requests when SpaceX's Starlink satellites approached the Chinese space station dangerously last year," according to Sputnik.
Lijian continued, saying that "while Chinese astronauts were facing real and urgent safety threats in orbit, relevant authorities in China attempted several times to reach out to the US via email but received no response." The Chinese statement came after a new incident involving SpaceX’s satellites, linked to the deployment of 49 satellites into low orbit on February 3, which fell back to Earth following a magnetic storm.
The Starlink internet satellites from SpaceX nearly collided with the Chinese space station twice, first on July 1 and then on October 21, 2021, according to a document previously submitted by China to the United Nations. China noted in the document published on the website of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, "For safety reasons, the Chinese space station implemented a collision avoidance control system."
SpaceX, owned by Elon Musk, has deployed nearly 1,900 satellites as part of the Starlink program alone.
