SpaceX Satellite Narrowly Missed Chinese Lab Before Complaint
- Starlink craft came within 4 kilometers of space station
- Close encounters underscore crowding issues in low-earth orbit
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A pair of dangerously close space encounters is adding to tensions between the U.S. and China, while underscoring the potential peril to astronauts as satellite constellations and debris proliferate in orbit.
Two SpaceX satellites had near misses with China’s space station earlier this year -- one of them within 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) -- in the latest sign of dangerous overcrowding in low earth orbit.