China contacts NASA in first-ever outreach to prevent satellite collision

In an unprecedented step for global space cooperation, the space agency of China made contact with NASA to arrange a maneuver and prevent a possible collision between the satellites which is an indicator of a breakthrough in space traffic management.

Alvin Drew, NASA Director of Space Sustainability, disclosed the large change at one of the sessions of the International Astronautical Congress in Sydney.

Over the years the convention has been one-sided where in most cases, NASA would inform China about possible conjunction, and then it would evade in itself.

“Just yesterday, we had a bit of a celebration because, for the first time, the Chinese National Space Agency reached out to us and said we see a conjunction amongst our satellites. We recommend you hold still. We'll do the manoeuvre,” Drew announced. “And that's the first time that's ever happened.”

This rare outreach from the China National Space Administration (CNSA) comes as both nations are rapidly expanding their satellite presence in low Earth orbit.

SpaceX constellation can help create a more congested space environment, especially with the U.S., primarily via the Starlink constellation, and China, with its Guowang and Thousand Sails mega constellations, and so such coordination is necessary to avoid collisions that may create hazardous belts of space debris.

The action is also an indirect pointer that the Chinese space situational awareness has also improved such that its capacity to monitor objects in the orbit has also improved to the point where it can consistently identify any potential conjunctions and take international coordination actions.

This advancement is in consonance with priorities stated in the new space policy white papers of China which has emphasized on improved monitoring and management of space debris.

The communication is exceptionally remarkable due to the political limitation of U.S.-China space cooperation mainly the Wolf Amendment which limits the most straightforward bilateral cooperation of NASA and Chinese state organizations. 

Although this did not eliminate these legal obstacles, this event will be a very important practical move towards the much-needed communication to ensure safety and survival of space activities by all countries.