Tag Archives: collisions

SpaceX Starlink to Prevent 300,000 Satellite Collisions by 2025

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Long exposure photo depicting satellites in the night sky of the Northern Hemisphere

Credit: Alan Dyer/VWPics/Universal Images Group (via Getty Images)

A recent report submitted by SpaceX to the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) revealed intriguing insights about the Starlink satellite network. Notably, the report states that Starlink satellites executed approximately 300,000 collision avoidance maneuvers in 2025.

Starlink, a substantial constellation of satellites, provides internet service worldwide. Since the launch of the first Starlink satellite in 2019, the fleet has expanded to around 9,400 satellites, constituting 65 percent of all operational satellites in Earth’s orbit.

Due to the potential hazards posed by satellite collisions, such as generating debris and making certain orbital paths unusable, the FCC mandates that SpaceX provides biannual updates on Starlink’s safety protocols.

In its latest report, dated December 31, SpaceX disclosed that its Starlink satellites carried out around 149,000 collision avoidance maneuvers from June to November 2025. These maneuvers are essential when two satellites are deemed to be in close proximity and at risk of colliding.

The industry standard allows for operation with a collision risk of 1 in 10,000; however, SpaceX adopts a more cautious approach, allowing only a risk of 3 in 10,000,000.

This surge in maneuvers follows SpaceX’s earlier report of 144,000 maneuvers conducted between December 2024 and May 2025. With this, SpaceX aims to complete around 300,000 maneuvers in 2025, marking a significant increase of about 50% from 200,000 maneuvers in 2024. “It’s an enormous amount of maneuvering,” says Hugh Lewis, a researcher at the University of Birmingham in the UK. “This is an exceptionally high figure.”

While most other satellite operators worldwide refrain from publicizing their maneuver data, traditional satellites typically perform only a few maneuvers a year. SpaceX reports that each of its satellites may execute up to 40 maneuvers annually.

Lewis also mentioned that the company intends to increase maneuvers to one million each year by 2027. As several other mega-constellations from the US and China are being deployed, the likelihood of collisions will rise. “From a physics standpoint, that’s not ideal,” Lewis warns. “We are heading toward a concerning scenario in orbit. This situation is unsustainable.”

Additionally, SpaceX revealed in its report that it had numerous close encounters with other satellites, citing a Chinese satellite named Honghu 2, which has approached Starlink satellites over 1,000 times, likely due to overlapping operational orbits.

“This demonstrates how SpaceX effectively dominates that orbital space,” asserts Samantha Lawler from the University of Regina, Canada. Most Starlink satellites orbit at altitudes between 340 and 570 kilometers. “According to the Outer Space Treaty, all nations have access to every part of space, and they are effectively occupying those areas.”

Furthermore, SpaceX provided details about a Starlink satellite that exploded in December, creating dozens of debris pieces. The explosion was attributed to “suspected hardware failure,” and the malfunctioning component has been “identified and removed” from future designs.

Starlink employs autonomous systems to navigate collisions and manage the extensive number of maneuvers needed. However, SpaceX mentioned that one incident involved a spacecraft from Japan’s Astroscale that “performed an unannounced maneuver” potentially increasing the collision risk with a Starlink satellite.

Astroscale disputes this account, stating that the maneuver was publicly announced and executed in compliance with Japan’s orbit maintenance guidelines. SpaceX did not respond to media inquiries regarding the situation.

However, the most noteworthy statistic remains the total number of maneuvers conducted. “They are conducting operations efficiently and effectively,” Lawler comments. “But if they make an error, we could face significant consequences.”

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Source: www.newscientist.com

How Satellites Can Utilize Magnetic Fields to Prevent Collisions

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Innovative Control Method for Satellites in Space

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Utilizing magnetic fields to maneuver satellites could significantly enhance the longevity of space exploration missions and reduce the risk of collisions between spacecraft.

Currently, most space missions and artificial satellites depend on propellant for movement in space, which limits their operational lifetimes due to fuel depletion. An innovative alternative, known as electromagnetic formation flight (EMFF), employs renewable energy sources like solar panels to power onboard electromagnetic coils. These coils generate magnetic fields that can theoretically steer spacecraft through interactions with similar fields from adjacent satellites.

However, researchers have faced challenges with EMFF due to a phenomenon called electromagnetic coupling. The magnetic field from one satellite affects not just nearby satellites but all satellites in proximity, complicating coordinated movement among multiple objects.

A research team at the University of Kentucky has proposed a promising solution through a method called alternating magnetic field forcing (AMFF).

This technique enables two satellites to communicate and control each other’s trajectories without disrupting a third satellite. This is achieved by utilizing distinct interaction frequencies, allowing two satellites to coordinate on one frequency while maintaining communication with others on different frequencies.

The AMFF concept has been successfully tested on Earth instead of in space. The three satellites were positioned on specialized linear rails employing high-pressure air to create a low-friction environment. With the integrated laser ranging module, the satellites achieved precise travel distances and effective interactions as defined by the researchers.

The project team did not respond to interview requests. However, Alvar Saenz Otero, a researcher at the University of Washington, noted that this paper represents a significant advancement in a long-standing research area. “The complexity of a formation flight system increases significantly when transitioning from two to three satellites,” he explains.

Yet, Otero expresses skepticism about the immediate application of this technology for low-Earth orbit satellites, such as massive constellations like Starlink. “Our work on EMFF has primarily focused on deep space operations,” he adds.

Earth’s atmosphere can impact the frequencies utilized for EMFF or AMFF, introducing interference that complicates satellite control, he notes.

While it is currently feasible for three units to fly together and utilize magnetic fields for navigation, scaling this approach to manage thousands of satellites poses a formidable challenge. “This is not applicable at the constellation level,” remarks Ray Sedwick from the University of Maryland.

“Employing superconducting magnetic coils significantly extends the operational range of EMFF, but numerous technical challenges remain,” Sedwick explains, indicating that large-scale magnetic motion might still be on the horizon.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

First Image from the World’s Largest Digital Camera Unveils Galaxy Collisions and Cosmic Wonders

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Images and videos from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory showcase over 10 hours of test observations before being revealed. The event was live streamed on Monday from Washington, DC.

Keith Bector, an associate professor from the University of Wisconsin-Madison physics department, has contributed to the Rubin Observatory for nearly a decade as a system verification scientist, ensuring that all components of the observation deck function properly.

He mentioned that the team was present as images streamed in real-time from the camera.

“In the control room, there was a moment when all engineers and scientists gazed at these images. We were able to observe more details about stars and galaxies,” Vector explained to NBC News. “Understanding this on an intellectual level is one thing, but on an emotional level, I realized I was part of something truly extraordinary, all happening in real-time.”

One of the newly released images enabled the Rubin Observatory to identify galaxies billions of light-years away, alongside asteroids in the solar system and stars in the Milky Way.

“In fact, most of the objects captured in these images exhibit light that was emitted before our solar system was formed,” highlighted Bechtol. “We are witnessing light that reflects billions of years of the universe’s history, and many of these galaxies have never before been observed.”

Astronomers are eagerly awaiting the first images from the new observatory, affirming that experts will aid in unraveling some of the universe’s greatest mysteries and revolutionizing our understanding.

“We are entering the golden age of American science,” stated Harriet Kang, acting director of the Energy Department of Science. She elaborated in a statement.

“We anticipate that the observation deck will provide profound insights into our past, future, and potentially the fate of the universe,” Kang remarked during a Monday event.

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory is collaboratively managed by the Energy Agency and the National Science Foundation.

Named after an American astronomer renowned for uncovering evidence of dark matter in space, the observatory is situated atop Cerro Pachon, a mountain in central Chile. It is designed to capture around 1,000 images of the southern hemisphere sky each night, covering the entire visible southern sky every three to four nights.

These early images stem from a series of test observations and mark the commencement of a bold decade-long mission to scan the sky continuously, capturing all visible details and changes.

“The entire observatory design is centered on this capability, enabling you to point, shoot, and repeat,” Bechtol noted. “Every 40 seconds, the view shifts to a new part of the sky. Imagine bringing the night sky back to life in a way we’ve never experienced before.”

By repeating this process nightly over the next decade, scientists aim to create extensive images of the visible southern sky, tracking bright stars, moving asteroids in the solar system, measuring supernova explosions, and observing other cosmic phenomena.

“Utilizing this groundbreaking scientific facility, we will delve into many mysteries of the universe, including the dark matter and dark energy that fills our cosmos,” stated Brian Stone, Chief of Staff of the National Science Foundation, in a statement.

Source: www.nbcnews.com

Exploring the Production of Higgs Boson Pairs in Proton-Proton Collisions with the CMS Experiment

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CMS Collaboration physicists used data from high-energy proton-proton collisions from Experiment 2 at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC) to released The latest research into the production of Higgs boson pairs, known as De-Higgs, has placed constraints on the rate of their formation.

Event display of candidate events for Higgs pair generation. Image credit: CERN.

According to physicists, Higgs particle pair can be created in two main ways.

The first is called gluon-gluon fusion, in which gluons (particles inside colliding protons) interact to produce the Higgs boson. This process allows scientists to study the interaction between one so-called intermediate state Higgs boson and two final state Higgs bosons.

The second method involves quarks, also inside the colliding protons, which emit two vector bosons. These vector particles interact to form a Higgs particle, allowing the study of the interaction between two Higgs particles and two vector particles.

CMS physicists performed the latest analysis by exploring multiple ways DeHiggs could collapse.

These final states resulted from the decay of Higgs boson pairs into bottom quarks, W particles, tau leptons, and photons.

By combining these searches and analyzing all the data simultaneously using advanced analytics techniques such as boosted decision trees and deep neural networks, the collaboration was able to extract more information than ever before. .

This study allowed the researchers to set an upper bound on the Higgs pair production rate with a 95% confidence level.

The measured limits are now 3.5 times higher than the Standard Model’s prediction for total DeHiggs production and 79 times higher than the Standard Model’s prediction for DeHiggs production by vector boson fusion.

The LHC’s Run 3 data acquisition era is underway, and the amount of data collected by CMS experiments has already doubled, and CMS researchers are making progress in analyzing it.

One of the most exciting prospects for measuring the self-interactions of the Higgs boson is the upcoming High-Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC), scheduled to become operational in 2030.

In this new phase, the accelerator will provide CMS with the highest luminosity ever reached in a collider.

Considering luminosity predictions and systematic uncertainties, scientists estimate that the first evidence of Higgs formation may begin to appear in about half of the HL-LHC data.

“We look forward to further investigating this rare and exciting phenomenon,” they said.

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CMS cooperation. 2024. Combined search for non-resonant Higgs boson pair production in proton-proton collisions at √s=13 TeV. CMS-PAS-HIG-20-011

Source: www.sci.news