Overview
- Alvin Drew told the International Astronautical Congress that on October 1 CNSA alerted NASA to a potential close pass and advised NASA to hold position while China executed the avoidance maneuver.
- NASA described the contact as a cause for celebration and a rare operational exchange with China under the constraints of the 2011 Wolf Amendment.
- Low-Earth orbit now hosts an estimated 200,000 debris objects between 1 and 10 cm plus tens of thousands larger than 10 cm, raising collision risks for spacecraft and crews.
- About 8,500 of the 12,955 active LEO satellites are Starlink spacecraft, while China is pursuing Guowang and Thousand Sails plans that aim for more than 10,000 satellites by the 2030s.
- Reports said suspected debris struck a Chinese return capsule this week, temporarily delaying a crew’s departure from the Tiangong station, underscoring the stakes of space-junk hazards.