phkahler 2 days ago

It seems like it deliberately came close to the Starlink sat, but the "why" is still a good question.

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  • rkagerer 2 days ago

    Weapons test springs to mind, or as a sibling comment suggested a test of Starlink response capabilities.

    How confident are we the intent was nefarious? Do you ever see accidental near-misses with this type of flight profile?

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    • butvacuum 2 days ago

      The system exists- ergo, people in the know are concerned about accidental collisions.

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      • jacquesm 2 days ago

        Alternative: the system exists, so people in the know may well have done proper risk assessment and may have identified multiple reasons that could result in a collision. Some of those reasons are accidental, some are not.

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  • bell-cot 2 days ago

    A test of SpaceX's awareness & response would be ample reason.

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    • notahacker 2 days ago

      If so, SpaceX's longer term response being "here's our SSA data for everyone and here's how we source it" is a good one for all parties involved (even more so for SpaceX and govt customers they share it with if they have other capabilities...)

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      • bell-cot 2 days ago

        Speculation:

        SpaceX has considerably better data than what they disclose, and offer free of charge.

        The USSF enjoys full access to that better data, for $[TOP_SECRET]/month.

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        • notahacker 2 days ago

          Well we already know Starshield (the military version) has specialist space domain awareness capabilities that aren't being shared, and it's entirely plausible that data from regular Starlink sensors/receivers (other than the disclosed star trackers) can be fused into something useful by SpaceX and/or the Space Force.

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