In a rare moment of coordination between the United States and China, NASA confirmed that the China National Space Administration (CNSA) recently reached out to warn about a potential satellite collision and offered to perform the necessary maneuver to avoid it, as reported by Space.com. The move marks the first time Beijing has initiated direct communication with NASA over space traffic management.
“For years, if we had a conjunction, we would send a note to the Chinese saying, ‘We think we’re going to run into you. You hold still, we’ll maneuver around you,’” said Alvin Drew, director for NASA Space Sustainability, during a plenary session at the International Astronautical Congress in Sydney, Australia, on October 2.
“That changed yesterday,” he added. “For the first time, the Chinese National Space Agency reached out to us and said, ‘We see a conjunction amongst our satellites. We recommend you hold still. We’ll do the maneuver.’ And that’s the first time that’s ever happened.”
The term “conjunction” refers to two satellites passing dangerously close to one another, often within a few hundred meters. As the number of satellites in orbit grows rapidly, so does the risk of such near misses and the possibility of catastrophic debris-generating collisions.
The incident reflects a growing acknowledgment of the need for cooperation between nations operating large satellite constellations. Both countries are expanding their presence in orbit at a record pace. The U.S. has seen massive growth through SpaceX’s Starlink constellation, while China is developing its own Guowang and Thousand Sails satellite networks. These systems, when fully deployed, will each consist of tens of thousands of satellites.
The contact also shows that China’s space situational awareness — the ability to monitor and track orbital objects in real time — has reached a level of maturity comparable to that of the United States. China previously identified this as a key goal in its 2022 space white paper, outlining ambitions to enhance orbital monitoring, debris removal, and international coordination between 2021 and 2026.
However, such exchanges are rare due to the Wolf Amendment, a U.S. law that prohibits most bilateral collaboration between NASA and Chinese government agencies, citing concerns over technology transfer and national security. Communication between the two sides is typically limited to multilateral or emergency safety situations, such as potential collisions or deconfliction events.
This exchange could signal a small but meaningful shift in the often tense dynamic between the two countries’ space programs. As low Earth orbit grows increasingly crowded, both nations appear to recognize that even rivals must talk — if only to keep their satellites, and the space above Earth, safe from disaster.