SpaceX launched its first batch of 60 broadband satellites in May this year, a move that temporarily led Amazon’s head, Bezos.

Editor’s note: This article is from “Tencent Technology”, review: Cheng Hey, authorized to reprint.

Before, Musk and SpaceX have proposed a grand plan to launch more than 4,400 satellites into the space orbit, providing broadband Internet access to the ground population, but this plan has caused some controversy, such as causing space congestion, space Debris, interference with space communications, and even the bright pollution of ground observation space.

External concerns are not unreasonable. According to the latest news from foreign media, on September 2, the European Space Agency said that its satellite has undergone an emergency change operation to avoid collision with SpaceX’s broadband satellite.

European Space Agency's emergency steering of satellites to avoid

According to foreign media reports, SpaceX launched the first satellites to provide terrestrial broadband services three months ago. Today, other satellite operators have begun to turn their spacecraft away from SpaceX.

The European Space Agency said on Twitter on Monday that it issued a launch attitude engine to the Earth observation satellite “Aeolus” to adjust its direction to avoid potential collisions with SpaceX’s broadband satellite.

This Musk-led company launched its first batch of 60 broadband satellites in May this year, and this move is also ahead of Amazon’s head, Bezos.

Today, satellite broadband services have become a hot area, and companies such as SpaceX, Amazon, and Boeing have announced huge project plans. These companies will deploy a large number of satellites in space to help people in remote areas access the Internet. Moreover, the cost of satellite Internet access today will be greatly reduced to a level acceptable to the general public.

The European Space Agency also published a satellite flight map on the Twitter website, which indicates that if no measures are taken, the two satellites will have a space impact accident and even generate a large amount of space debris.

According to foreign media reports, although the European Space Agency indicated that this was their first time to perform collision avoidance operations to protect their satellites. However, this phenomenon will become more and more common in the future, so it is impossible to use a manual process to adjust the flight path of the satellite.

The agency said on Twitter that they are preparing to use automatic intelligence to achieve automatic collision avoidance operations.

The representative of SpaceX did not immediately respond to the email request for comment.

In the past, SpaceX and Musk’s practices in the space field have sparked controversy within the industry. For example, in the first launch of the heavy Falcon rocket, Musk launched a Roadster Tesla electric sports car with a dummy in space (Tesla is the brother company of SpaceX), causing a public sensation, but There is a voice that thinks this is making space junk. The latest information shows that this Tesla electric sports car has completed a flight around the sun and is currently approaching Mars.

After SpaceX announced the broadband satellite program, there are also some satellite communications companies that believe it will interfere with existing communications.

It is reported that last year, the US Federal Communications Commission approved SpaceX’s broadband satellite program, allowing more than 4,000 satellites to be deployed in orbit about 1200 kilometers from Earth, but SpaceX must take out space debris. s plan.

To prevent the generation of space junk, SpaceX revised its plan to allow more than 1,600 satellites to fly in orbits 550 kilometers from Earth.

It is well known that SpaceX achieved the first re-cycling of commercial launch vehicles, which significantly reduced the cost of satellite launches. Relying on cost advantages, SpaceX has gained more than half of the global satellite launch market. SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and other rockets will also become important tools for launching thousands of broadband satellites.

It is worth mentioning that SpaceX’s ultimate goal is to develop and design the interstellar spacecraft and the next generation of super heavy rockets, to send humans to Mars for long-term settlement, and to provide satellite broadband services is a “non-main business” project. According to foreign media analysis, SpaceX can get enough cash flow through this service to fund the plan for human immigration to Mars.