SpaceX satellite almost collided with European satellite

The European Space Agency (ESA) set the propulsion on Aeolus satellite, driving it to avoid SpaceX's Starlink 44 satellite on September 2.

Aeolus and Starlink 44 satellites have a collision rate of 1 / 1,000.(Photo: ESA).

Aeolus is a satellite observing the Earth weighing more than 1,300kg, launched into space on August 22, 2018. Starlink 44 is part of a series of 60 Internet satellites launched by SpaceX at the end of May this year. Most Starlink satellites operate at orbit 440-550km. However, Starlink 44 lowered to practice some flight techniques.

The flight paths of the two satellites intersect at an altitude of 320km. The chance of a collision is 1 in 1,000, according to Holger Krag, head of the Space Waste Office at ESA. This is 10 times higher than the danger threshold, requiring engineers to control satellites to avoid collisions. They used a safe way of raising Aeolus high.

This is very rare between active satellites. Typically, they just need to avoid the path of "dead" satellites or debris from previous collisions.

Aeolus satellite operates in orbit.(Photo: ESA).

After escaping from danger, Aeolus returned to the right path. The satellite also communicates with the Earth and sends back scientific data as usual.

It is not feasible for engineers to control such satellites to avoid collisions in the future, as the number of satellites becomes larger and the risk of collision increases. ESA plans to automate this process and use artificial intelligence to help keep satellites out of harm's way.