Course Changed by European Satellite to Avoid Collision with SpaceX Spacecraft

A European satellite was forced to swerve out of its way in order to avoid one of the spacecraft from Elon Musk’s SpaceX. SpaceX, operating underSpace Exploration Technologies Corp., was set up in in 2002 by renowned genius, Elon Musk, with the objective of bringing down space exploration costs and also to enable colonization on Mars. The satellite from European Space Agency had a representative contact Starlink, the SpaceX project that the spacecraft belonged to, who stated that moving the spacecraft would hinder their project. At this ESA had to make arrangements to maneuver their satellite and increase the altitude in order to avoid collision.  

"It is very rare to perform collision avoidance maneuvers with active satellites. The vast majority of ESA avoidance maneuvers are the result of dead satellites or fragments from previous collisions. No one was at fault here, but this example does show the urgent need for proper space traffic management, with clear communication protocols and more automation.” stated a representative from ESA.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) devices are being evolved by the ESA in order to robotize the navigation in space projects. This is being done in order to be in better control whilst encountering traffic in space. Being in better control of the traffic will elevate the number of satellites which can increase internet connectivity.