SpaceX Demands Orbital Coordination After Dangerous Starlink Satellite Close Calls

Constellations Are Growing, Standards Are Not

Low Earth orbit is accumulating space traffic with no rules to govern it. SpaceX has deployed 11,000 Starlink satellites — two-thirds of all functioning spacecraft in low Earth orbit. The company has also announced plans to launch up to one million satellites for a new system called Starmind, which would bring AI computing power into orbit.

Competitors are scaling up in parallel. Amazon is rolling out Leo: 396 satellites currently in orbit, with the FCC approving a second generation of 4,504 spacecraft in February 2026, plus an application for 5,105 more for direct-to-device connectivity. Two Chinese megaconstellations are now in full-scale deployment.

At the International Astronautical Congress in Antalya, Turkey, SpaceX Vice President for Starlink Michael Nicolls — who is also president of xAI — issued a demand to the industry: share satellite orbital position data. "The law of large numbers says that if an event can happen, it will happen," he warned.

Tens and Hundreds of Meters of Separation

Nicolls showed examples of other operators' satellites coming within tens to hundreds of meters of Starlink spacecraft. The satellites travel at 5 miles per second (8 km/second). Operators had maneuvered without notifying neighboring satellites or without publishing ephemeris data — information on location and trajectory.

"Either they weren't publishing ephemeris data, or they weren't accounting for ours when maneuvering, and that led to close approaches of tens to hundreds of meters — much closer than is acceptable," Nicolls said.

No global treaty mandates sharing of this data. SpaceX and most Western operators deorbit their satellites at end of life, preventing debris accumulation.

What SpaceX Is Doing

Starlink has lowered the altitude of its active constellation below 500 km, moving the network away from congested orbital regions, speeding up deorbiting of failed satellites, and improving signal quality. The new V3 generation (launched on Starship in September) flies even lower — around 350 km.

The company publishes its own ephemeris data and is asking others to do the same. Starlink satellites use onboard navigation cameras and the Stargaze system to track objects in orbit — covering 90% of maneuvering satellites that cross its orbital paths.

Daily statistics show about 1,000 collision-avoidance maneuvers. In recent months, Starlink satellites have avoided encounters with 650 active satellites belonging to other operators. The problem: only 325 of them — half — belong to operators that share ephemeris data with SpaceX.

China and Russia Aren't Publishing Data

"Sharing data with international operators has been very difficult," Nicolls admitted. "We share data with the Chinese space station and some Chinese operators, but not with most of them. We don't have information on where their satellites are or where they're headed."

The presentation highlighted a problem specifically with Chinese and Russian spacecraft, though some operators from the US, Europe, and Japan also refuse to publish data.

Amazon's Position

SpaceX's rival in the satellite internet market, Amazon, supports open data sharing. Rajeev Badyal, head of Amazon Leo, said his company coordinates with SpaceX and other operators, informing them of orbital parameters and maneuvers. Leo's first generation will consist of 3,232 satellites, the second of 4,504.

"For us, sharing ephemeris data isn't even a question," Badyal said. "We support coordinated action, because the consequences of negligence are significant for everyone."

Asked about coordination with China and "adversaries," he was evasive, saying it would be a future necessity. "SpaceX is the largest constellation right now. We're working closely with them."

SpaceX's fundamental request is singular: get all operators from all countries to start sharing orbital data in order to ensure safety in orbit.