Elon Musk rejects claims that his satellites are hogging spaceon December 30, 2021 at 2:38 am

- Advertisement -
- Advertisement -
- Advertisement -
- Advertisement -

His comments come after China complained to the United Nations about his internet satellite project.

Elon Musk attends TIME Person of the Year on December 13, 2021 in New York City.

Image source, Getty Images

Elon Musk has rejected claims that his Starlink satellite internet project is taking up too much room in space.

“Tens of billions” of satellites can be accommodated in orbits close to Earth, he told the Financial Times.

His comments come after a claim by the head of the European Space Agency (ESA) that Mr Musk was “making the rules” for the emerging commercial space industry.

This week, China complained that its space station was forced to avoid collisions with Starlink satellites.

“Space is just extremely enormous, and satellites are very tiny,” Mr Musk said in the interview.

Mr Musk pushed back at suggestions that his Starlink Internet Services project was effectively obstructing the entry of competitors to the satellite industry, saying that there is ample room in the Earth’s orbit for satellites.

“This is not some situation where we’re effectively blocking others in any way. We’ve not blocked anyone from doing anything, nor do we expect to,” he said.

“A couple of thousand satellites is nothing. It’s like, hey, here’s a couple of thousand of cars on Earth, it’s nothing,” he added.

This month, Josef Aschbacher, the director general of ESA, warned that the thousands of communications satellites launched by Starlink would result in there being far less space for competitors.

Other experts have said that much larger distances are needed between spacecraft to avoid collisions than Mr Musk has suggested.

Scientists have also previously voiced concerns about the risks of collisions in space and called on world governments to share information about the estimated 30,000 satellites and other space debris that are orbiting Earth.

Mr Musk made headlines this week as he faced a social media backlash after China complained that its space station was forced to avoid collisions with satellites launched by his Starlink project.

The country’s space station had two “close encounters” with Starlink satellites this year, Beijing claimed.

The incidents occurred on 1 July and 21 October, according to a document submitted by China this month to the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs.

“For safety reasons, the China Space Station implemented preventive collision avoidance control,” Beijing said in the document published on the agency’s website.

The incidents behind the complaints, lodged with the UN’s space agency, have not yet been independently verified.

China also accused the US of putting astronauts in danger by ignoring obligations under outer space treaties.

Foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said China was urging the US to act responsibly.

SpaceX has already launched almost 1,900 satellites as part of the Starlink network, and plans to deploy thousands more.

You may also be interested in:

This video can not be played

To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.

- Advertisement -

Discover

Sponsor

Latest

Man dies during organised scuba dive at Kinghorn beachon April 10, 2022 at 5:02 pm

Emergency services were called to Kinghorn Beach in Fife after he got into difficulty in the water.Image source, Norman SoutarA man has died after...

Cuomo says it’s ‘shocking’ most new coronavirus hospitalizations are people who had been staying home

KEY POINTS Early look at data from 100 New York hospitals shows that 66% of new admissions related to the virus are people who...

Ukraine war: How Russia’s war is changing childhood in Ukraineon February 2, 2024 at 6:17 am

In Ukraine, six-year-old Nika now attends classes in a subway station to avoid Russian bombardment.By Sarah RainsfordBBC Eastern Europe correspondent, KharkivRussia's war has transformed...

Friends pay tribute to woman killed by strangeron June 28, 2022 at 8:19 am

Zara Aleena, who was killed in east London on Sunday, "lit up the whole room".Image source, Met PoliceA woman killed in a suspected stranger...

Ashes: England captain Joe Root confident of Ashes tonon December 23, 2021 at 7:19 pm

England captain Joe Root says he will "bang out a hundred" as the tourists plot an Ashes fightback in the Boxing Day Test.