China accuses Elon Musk of putting astronauts at risk

China has accused Elon Musk of putting Chinese astronauts at risk by increasing the number of satellites in orbit around the Earth.

China has accused the United States of “seriously threatening” the safety of its astronauts with the launching of the Starlink satellites from the company SpaceX. These objects were released into the orbit of the Chinese space station, forcing them to implement a protocol to avoid collisions.

China reported this situation to the United Nations, preferring to blame the United States than Elon Musk, the owner of the private space company. Beijing considers that Washington has not complied with its “international obligations” in space.

This incident has been a setback for the implementation of the new Chinese space station. The central module of Tiangong, the name of the space station, is already orbiting around the Earth. The first astronauts have occupied the station and it will be fully operational in 2022.

Some experts have warned of the potential risks of Starlink. The SpaceX project consists of periodically sending a multitude of satellites into space in order to create an artificial constellation that provides a new satellite internet access to most of the Earth.

This incident between China and the United States follows a similar dispute involving Russia a few weeks ago, in which Washington reported the Kremlin for threatening the security of the International Space Station by testing a missile capable of destroying satellites.

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