It seems space is getting more crowded. The European Space Agency (ESA) reported that it felt it was prudent to maneuver #Aeolus, one of their satellites, to avoid a potential collision with a Space X Starlink commercial satellite.
In a tweet, the ESA said, “Experts in our #SpaceDebris team calculated the risk of collision between these two active satellites, determining the safest option for #Aeolus would be to increase its altitude and pass over the @SpaceX satellite.” the agency stated in one tweet.
An ESA spokesperson added, “These avoidance maneuvers take a lot of time to prepare – from determining the future orbital positions of all functioning spacecraft, to calculating the risk of collision and potential outcomes of different actions.”
Matt Desch, chief executive of Iridium tweeted, “Hmmm. We move our satellites on average once a week and don’t put out a press release to say who we maneuvered around,” Iridium has of 75 next-generation satellites in low Earth orbit.