Musk satellite comes within 200ft of colliding with British-backed rival

Broadband internet firms’ spacecraft narrowly avoid crashing as company steps up launch programme

ELON MUSK’S Spacex satellite prompted a ”red alert” warning after coming within 60 metres (200ft) of smashing into another satellite owned by a British-backed company.

Engineers at Oneweb and Spacex scrambled to avoid what could have been a disastrous collision last month after the United States Space Force sent multiple “red alert” warnings that the two firms’ satellites were about to crash.

Spacex and Oneweb are in direct competition to establish an infrastructure of satellites that can provide highspeed internet access to remote or locations around the world that were left behind by cable-based providers.

Oneweb, which was founded in 2012, was bought out of bankruptcy in late 2020 for $1billion (£727million) in a joint investment by the UK Government and Bharti Global, an Indian telecoms company.

Spacex, which was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk, the world’s second-richest man and chief executive of Tesla Motors, has already started providing broadband for customers in Britain using its Starlink network of satellites.

Starlink has a network of 1,378 satellites operating in low-earth orbit at an altitude of 550km (340 miles).

By comparison, Oneweb’s 148 satellites orbit at a higher altitude of around 1,200km (745 miles) and, as a result, have to pass through Starlink’s constellation on their way up.

On March 25, Oneweb launched 36 satellites into orbit from the far east of Russia. The satellite firm said this was the second in a five-launch programme.

Almost a week later, on March 30, Oneweb engineers saw several warning alerts from the US Space Force’s 18th Space Control Squadron – which monitors satellites for close approaches – that a satellite was on a possible collision course with a Starlink one.

The crash alerts, which were first reported by the technology website The Verge, saved what could have been a wider emergency with collision debris posing a risk to other satellites.

Chris Mclaughlin, Oneweb’s government affairs chief, said their team of engineers reached out to Musk’s Spacex to co-ordinate how the two satellites could avoid a collision.

Spacex engineers agreed to switch off the satellite’s Ai-powered collision avoidance system, which in turn allowed Oneweb to forge a new route for its satellite. The automated system used by the Starlink network has come under fire from other satellite operators before, who claim they are not privy to its decision-making process.

Mr Mclaughlin told The Verge: “It is not sufficient to say ‘I’ve got an automated system’, because the other guy may not have and won’t understand what yours is trying to do.”