China on Tuesday accused the United States of “serious threat” to the safety of its astronauts after two satellites of billionaire Elon Musk narrowly missed, according to Beijing, to collide with its space station.
According to a document sent at the beginning of December by Beijing to the Office for Outer Space Affairs of the United Nations in Vienna, the Chinese space station Tiangong had to twice, in July and October, to carry out maneuvers in order to avoid “an encounter” with SpaceX gear. The Chinese space agency reacted “to ensure the safety and survival of astronauts in orbit,” the document added.
“Prepare to boycott Tesla”
SpaceX did not comment on this information on Tuesday, which displeased Chinese Internet users. “Prepare to boycott Tesla,” said a user of the Weibo social network, under a hashtag seen more than 87 million times. “There’s no shortage of irony: the Chinese are buying Tesla, giving Musk money to launch (satellites) and throw them at the Chinese space station,” thundered another.
Beijing accused the United States on Tuesday of “failing to meet its international obligations” in space, without however specifically attacking the richest man in the world. “This constitutes a serious threat to the life and safety of Chinese astronauts”, criticized diplomacy spokesperson Zhao Lijian to the press.
1,500 satellites launched by Elon Musk
Elon Musk, who has just been voted personality of the year by the American magazine Time, is well known in China for its Tesla electric cars. China is a crucial market for the multi-billion dollar Canada-US dollar of South African origin. Tesla sells around a quarter of its production domestically and has a plant in Shanghai. The automaker has, however, been the subject of criticism in recent months following accidents and data protection concerns.
In space, SpaceX launched a constellation of more than 1,500 satellites, Starlink, intended to bring connection to Internet to the four corners of the globe. This constellation has notably increased the circulation of objects in space. “We have seen an increase in the number of collision risks since the start of the deployment of Starlink,” commented AFP Jonathan McDowell, of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in the United States.
China this year launched the main module of its Tiangong space station (the “heavenly palace”), whose construction is to be completed next year.
Two crews of three astronauts have followed one another since June.