Podsumowanie sytuacji, dokonane przez
Jonathana McDowella:
China has complained to the UN (in UN document A/AC.105/1262) that Starlink sats are buzzing the Chinese Space Station (CSS). Two incidents are mentioned, and analysis of the TLEs confirms that the close passes in question did indeed occur as described.
On Jul 1 at 0950 UTC the CMSEO (zhongguo zairen hangtian gongcheng bangonghsi, China Human Spaceflight Engineering Office) commanded the CSS to make an orbit adjustment to dodge Starlink 1095, which was in the
process of lowering its orbit towards disposal; a close (km or less) pass would otherwise have happened at about 1315 UTC. It appears that the Starlink also made a small avoidance burn around the same time, but it sounds like there was no advance communication between SpaceX and the CMSEO about the pass.
On Oct 21 the then-recently-launched Starlink-2305 satellite was orbit raising through the altitude of the CSS and was predicted to pass within 1 km of the Chinese station at about 2200 UTC. The CSS made an orbit adjustment at about 0316 UTC to avoid the encounter. In this case Starlink-2305 does not appear to have made any avoidance burns.
Note that when a satellite is in a well tracked and stable (constant) orbit, prediction of upcoming close passes is relatively straighforward. But when the orbital elements of the satellites are constantly changing, potentially unpredictably, as in the case of Starlink satellites changing their orbit with electric propulsion, prediction of such
`conjunctions' is not reliably possible.
China says it 'has the honour to refer to article V of the [Outer Space Treaty] which provide that [States] should immediately inform the other [member states] of any phenomena they discover in outer space ... which could consititute a danger to the life or health of astronauts'. In other words, implying that SpaceX is such a phenomenon!
China also 'brings to the attention [of] all States parties to the Outer Space Treaty ... article VI ... States ... bear interational responsibility for national activities .. whether by governmental agencies or by non-governmetnal entities...'. In other words, what SpaceX is doing is the responsibility of the US government.
One should note that the ISS has had to do dodge Chinese space debris several times over the years, so no-one is pure here. However, I am encouraged that China is raising the profile of this issue at the UN - there's been a lot of informal discussion and sniping in the press, but it's very unusual to have a formal document presented to the UN by one country complaining about another country's space activities. Taking it seriously would provide an opportunity not only to have action on this issue, but also to bring China itself into better compliance with international norms (on upper stage disposal, for example).
Wątek: Starlink - konstelacja SpaceX - wątek dyskusyjny. (Przeczytany 151883 razy)