SpaceX and NASA enter into an Agreement to share Starlink data to Avoid Collisions and Improve Safety

NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) and SpaceX (Space Exploration Technologies Corp.) have entered into a space act agreement to share data for SpaceX’s Starlink constellation of small internet satellites. This agreement will seek to allow both to coordinate Starlink and NASA operations and take precautions to avoid any accidents between the satellites and the agency manned and unmanned operations primarily in the Low Earth Orbit (LEO).

Both NASA and SpaceX have agreed to share data in order to charter out orbital or trajectory overlap between the satellites and the International Space Station (ISS) or any other NASA missions.

NASA Will Rely On Starlink’s Autonomous Maneuvering Capabilities To Ensure Orbital Safety For Agency Assets

The agreement was signed in January by SpaceX’s vice president of customer operations and integration Mr. Lee Rosen and NASA’s acting associate administrator Mr. Steve Jurczyk. Under its provisions, NASA will be provided with data for future Starlink launches including the spacecraft’s launch dates and orbits to determine whether it needs to perform a launch collision analysis and SpaceX will be responsible for ensuring that its future Starlink launches do not violate the existing launch collision analysis 

To meet this criterion of being within limits of the collision analysis, the company has agreed to finetune its launch timelines to ensure that Starlinks that are incapable of autonomous maneuvering do not harm NASA assets. According to WCCFTECH, “these satellites are the ones that are in the process of pre-orbital insertion checkouts; a process through which the spacecraft test their systems in a lower orbit before ‘raising’ themselves to the final destination, ensuring that the malfunctioning satellites reenter and burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere relatively faster.” Also, a safety measure under the agreement is that NASA will not maneuver any of its assets, SpaceX will, in order to avoid accidents resulting from both parties maneuvering at the same time.

NASA will work with the United States Air Force’s 18th Space Control Squadron (18 SPCS), for its part of the deal,  to provide the military with data for the agency’s space assets for it to conduct the collision analysis. The 18 SPCS will then share the data with SpaceX to allow the aerospace manufacturer to program its satellites to avoid any incidents.

NASA will also share data with SpaceX for the ISS so that the former can avoid any interlays between the space station and the satellites. NASA will also share data with SpaceX for its assets and Starlinks three times a day and the space agency will provide sufficient lead times for emergency maneuvers that have not been screened beforehand.

Starlink’s insertion orbits have to be either 5 kilometers above or below the ISS’ lowest and highest orbital points. SpaceX has to ensure these limits for other NASA assets and should the company determine that it cannot meet the limitation, the agency and SpaceX will discuss risk mitigation approaches a week before the insertion altitude is locked in.

To ensure that the launch time does not violate any risk assessments conducted by NASA, the two parties will also tailor Starlink launch times two days before launch. The space agency will also provide SpaceX with a list of NASA’s assets to consider when determining Starlink orbital injection parameters.

The Hawthorne, California-based company, SpaceX, is currently pending third-modification for Starlink before the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) uses the idea of increased orbital safety to argue its merits. “This modification, if granted, will allow the company to further reduce its satellite altitudes, and as a result, reduce the time that the spacecraft spends in orbit. NASA and SpaceX will also work together to reduce Starlink brightness – a phenomenon that astronomers all over the world have criticized.”

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