China has accused the United States of irresponsibility because two satellites of the American space company SpaceX are said to have come dangerously close to the Chinese space station “Tiangong”.
A foreign ministry spokesman in Beijing said Tuesday that the space station had to change course in July and October because an Elon Musk satellite from Starlink was on a collision course.
China has already submitted a complaint to the United Nations. Applicable space treaties have been violated. The US side should take immediate measures to prevent such incidents from happening again and to protect the lives of astronauts in orbit. During both accidents, Chinese astronauts were on the space station, which is why emergency measures were taken to avoid collisions.
SpaceX and US automaker Tesla, also founded by billionaire Elon Musk, have come under pressure after reports of the accidents on Chinese social media. Several users expressed anger about close-in collisions. There were also calls for a boycott of Tesla and SpaceX.
Construction of the Chinese space station “Tiangong” (Heavenly Palace) began this year. The station, which so far consists only of the “Tianhe” (Heavenly Harmony) unit, is scheduled for completion in 2022.
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