Itinerary Planning

December 15, 2025, 6:46 AM EST. SpaceX says a newly launched Chinese satellite from CAS Space came within a few hundred meters of a Starlink satellite, blaming the operator for not sharing ephemeris data. Starlink engineers note that automatic avoidance relies on knowing other objects' positions. CAS Space says their launches use a ground-based space awareness system and that the incident occurred after payload separation. With over 24,000 objects tracked in low Earth orbit and potential totals up to 70,000 by decade's end, the near-miss heightens concerns about deconfliction and the risk of a Kessler syndrome. The episode underscores the need for better data-sharing and coordination among operators to keep LEO safe.