NASA and SpaceX are once again joining forces and signed an agreement on Thursday with the aim of improving space safety.
The 13-page agreement focuses on collision avoidance and collision avoidance between NASA spacecraft, SpaceX’s constellation of Starlink Internet satellites and any related ride-sharing mission.
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In a release setting out the agreement, NASA noted that cooperation is defined as a close approach between two objects in space at high speed.
Starlink’s satellites – of which there are now more than 1,200 in orbit – are equipped with worldwide receivers for navigation services used to estimate orbital parameters, an ion propulsion system and an autonomous mobility capability that provides data.
The company plans to launch tens of thousands of satellites to expand coverage, network capacity and speed.
SpaceX, founded by billionaire Elon Musk, has agreed that its Starlink satellites will move autonomously or manually out of the way of any NASA scientific satellites and other agency entities “from a collision avoidance perspective.”
In turn, NASA has agreed not to manage its assets at all if possible.
The agreement also requires SpaceX to notify NASA at least one week before each Starlink launch to determine if their mission could cause problems, and SpaceX has agreed to launch Starlink satellites that are not within five kilometers of the International Space station or any other country does not come. other NASA spacecraft.
In particular, and as reported in TechCrunch, NASA already has a set of ‘Conjunction Assessment’ guidelines used to determine the risks of a compound.
A “conjunction” in astronomical terms occurs when any two astronomical objects appear to be close to each other according to the British Royal Museums Greenwich.
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“Effective mitigation is based on coordination between operators, accurate data, a good technical basis for risk analysis, as well as proactive processes for appropriate actions to reduce risks,” the release said. “By working together on this agreement, the collision avoidance approach can be improved for all users.”
In addition, NASA says it has worked to support continued growth in the U.S. commercial space sector through their release of the Handbook of Best Practices for Space Cooperation Assessment and Collision Avoidance in December.
The textbook was issued in an effort to improve global awareness of space activity, as well as to teach NASA lessons on coordination and mitigation of close approaches, according to the agency.
“Society depends on space-based capabilities for global communications, navigation, weather forecasting and more,” Acting NASA Administrator Steve Jurczyk said in the release. “With commercial enterprises launching more and more satellites, it is critical that we increase communication, exchange data and establish best practices to ensure that we all maintain a safe spatial environment.”
NASA spokeswoman JD Harrington told Fox News on Friday that the agreement “could serve as an example of how information can be shared between the U.S. government and other commercial satellite operators.”
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Harrington said the agreement could help improve and promote the practices outlined in the textbook.
SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment.