SpaceX warns of 'ticking time bomb' after near-miss with Chinese satellite
Technology
A SpaceX Starlink satellite came uncomfortably close—just 656 feet—to crashing into a Chinese satellite, which was launched on December 9, 2025.
SpaceX's VP Michael Nicolls pointed to poor coordination between operators as the main reason for the scare, reminding everyone just how crowded and risky Earth's orbit is getting.
Why this matters: space is getting packed
With nearly 9,300 Starlink satellites up there (and more from others), space is starting to feel a bit like rush hour.
The European Space Agency now tracks about 54,000 big objects and a mind-blowing 140 million smaller bits of debris circling our planet.
Experts are calling this situation a "ticking time bomb" and pushing for better communication between countries and companies before something serious happens.