European satellite in near collision in space with Elon Musk SpaceX craft

The European Space Agency has said it altered the trajectory of one of its observation satellites to avoid a collision with a craft operated by Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

It said its scientists decided the safest plan of action was to boost the altitude of the craft, adding that the manoeuvre on Monday was “first time ever” it had acted to avoid an active satellite with previous similar manoeuvres the result of dead satellites or fragments from previous collisions,” it said.

A SpaceX spokesperson said a bug in its on-call operating system prevented the team from seeing that the risk of a collision with the ESA craft may have increased.

SpaceX, founded by Musk in 2002, this year launched a constellation of 60 broadband-beaming satellites, a project known as Starlink.

The initial launch prompted astronomers to raise the alarm over the risk of a possible collision and briefly prompted a spate of UFO sightings over the Netherlands.

Via The Guardian/Bloomberg

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