SpaceX has acknowledged that satellite operators must work together to prevent close approaches in orbit and has begun sharing imagery that illustrates how near spacecraft are coming to one another. The company is urging other operators to disclose their satellites' ephemeris — detailed data on position and velocity over time — so that avoidance maneuvers can be planned and executed promptly. In a recent statement, SpaceX noted that during 2026 it encountered conjunctions with roughly 650 maneuvering satellites from other constellations, yet only about half of those provided ephemeris data.

The company explained that some operators withhold ephemeris because they fear it could reveal proprietary information about upcoming maneuvers. Others are prepared to share but lack formal permission from national authorities to do so. According to SpaceX, such restrictions increase the risk of preventable collisions.

Over a six‑month period, Starlink recorded approximately 164,000 conjunctions in which the time of closest approach fell within four hours after an unannounced maneuver. While not every encounter posed a high collision risk, the incidents highlight situations where Starlink would have struggled to avoid another vehicle without advance notice of its intended move. In many cases, the absence of precise post‑maneuver trajectory data leaves operators unaware of the actual risk they are creating.

The statement included two specific incidents. In October 2025, a non‑Starlink satellite executed an unexpected maneuver that reduced the predicted miss distance from 9 km to just 57 m. In August 2026, a close approach was identified too late for Starlink to execute a timely avoidance maneuver; the satellite instead altered its orientation to present a smaller profile, and the two objects passed within 134 m of each other. SpaceX suggested that both events could have been avoided had the other operator shared its maneuver plans in advance.

To improve situational awareness, SpaceX is encouraging operators to use services such as space‑safety.com and its own Stargaze platform, which leverages star trackers on Starlink satellites to detect nearby objects. This effort contrasts with a 2019 incident in which a Starlink satellite failed to avoid the European Space Agency’s Aeolus mission due to a flaw in SpaceX’s paging system.

While the company emphasizes the value of data sharing, critics point out that SpaceX has filed applications to operate up to 100,000 Starlink satellites and as many as one million additional “Starmind AI” satellites. Such ambitions raise concerns about orbital congestion, even as SpaceX argues that the situation is comparable to the growth of air traffic, which remains safe because aircraft broadcast their flight plans and positions continuously.

Experts note that unlike aircraft debris, which falls quickly to Earth, satellite fragments can remain in orbit for extended periods, increasing long‑term hazards. Chiara Manfletti, CEO of Neuraspace, has warned that simply sharing data is insufficient. She advocates for a federated, interoperable space‑traffic ecosystem where operators can securely exchange trajectory and intent information across competing platforms and national systems. Neuraspace has reached out to SpaceX to explore coordination mechanisms for its customers and has called on SpaceX to participate in building such a collaborative framework.

The push for shared ephemeris data reflects a broader industry shift toward proactive collision avoidance, but the ultimate challenge lies in establishing trust and technical standards that enable safe, cross‑platform operations in an increasingly crowded orbital environment.