{"id":15190,"date":"2025-07-23T05:21:13","date_gmt":"2025-07-23T05:21:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/15190\/"},"modified":"2025-07-23T05:21:13","modified_gmt":"2025-07-23T05:21:13","slug":"debris-and-collisions-spacex-flags-ast-spacemobiles-satellites-as-safety-risk-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/15190\/","title":{"rendered":"Debris and Collisions? SpaceX Flags AST SpaceMobile’s Satellites As Safety Risk"},"content":{"rendered":"

SpaceX has a new complaint against competitor\u00a0AST SpaceMobile<\/a>, warning that the company\u2019s “tennis-court-sized” satellites pose a collision risk that could result in dangerous space debris.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, SpaceX sent a new letter<\/a> to the Federal Communications Commission, urging the agency to closely scrutinize AST\u2019s proposal to operate 248 satellites in Earth’s orbit to power cellular connectivity for everyday smartphones.\u00a0<\/p>\n

AST already has five \u201cBlueBird\u201d satellites in orbit, each measuring 700 square feet. However, the company has plans to launch dozens of second-generation BlueBirds that are about three times larger and offer even stronger cellular connectivity. A prototype second-gen BlueBird is slated to launch in the coming weeks, following FCC approval<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"AST<\/p>\n

\n (Credit: AST SpaceMobile)\n<\/p>\n

But in Tuesday\u2019s letter, SpaceX claims that AST\u2019s plan to safely orbit the proposed BlueBird constellation contains \u201ccritical gaps and inconsistencies\u201d that raise questions about whether the satellites can avoid collisions in space while preventing debris from falling toward Earth.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAuthorizing AST to launch its proposed spacecraft without resolving these issues would be irresponsible, potentially subjecting all other operators in LEO (low-Earth orbit) to unnecessary risk,\u201d SpaceX wrote.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The critical gaps include AST allegedly \u201cunderestimating\u201d the collision risk of the company\u2019s BlueBird satellites once they\u2019ve been retired and \u201cmassively undercounting the number of objects it will need to avoid in its orbits.\u201d In addition, SpaceX says AST\u2019s application neglects to cover whether the satellites contain any \u201cferromagnetic components.\u201d That\u2019s a potential problem because AST plans on retiring its satellites by allowing them to burn up in the atmosphere.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\u201cThese components are typically among the most challenging for demisability, meaning they are the most likely to survive re-entry and cause risk to human life,\u201d SpaceX says, later adding: \u201cAST routinely brags about the outlandish size of its satellites. But these large satellites may dramatically increase the risk of all operations in their orbits and below.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

AST didn\u2019t immediately respond to a request for comment, but the company has previously\u00a0accused<\/a>\u00a0Elon Musk of using “bullying\u201d tactics to try to derail the competition.\u00a0SpaceX has fired back, alleging<\/a> that AST has its own anticompetitive efforts.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Recommended by Our Editors<\/p>\n

Tuesday’s letter underscores the simmering rivalry between SpaceX and AST. Both companies are working to offer satellite services to everyday smartphones while trying to lobby the FCC to rule in their favor. However, the dispute also highlights the safety measures around today’s growing satellite constellations. <\/p>\n

For example, SpaceX has been retiring and de-orbiting<\/a> hundreds of Starlink satellites in recent months by letting them burn up in the atmosphere. The satellites are designed to disintegrate completely, but in some rare instances, they have caused<\/a> debris to fall to the planet. In February, the company released a report that estimated the chances of a V2 Mini Starlink satellite causing a human casualty due to falling debris were less than “1 in 100 million.”<\/p>\n

In the meantime, SpaceX\u2019s cellular Starlink<\/a> service is preparing to officially launch tomorrow through T-Mobile. AST, on the other hand, is aiming<\/a> to kick off its own beta program early next year through partners AT&T and Verizon.<\/p>\n

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Read the latest from Michael Kan<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SpaceX has a new complaint against competitor\u00a0AST SpaceMobile, warning that the company\u2019s “tennis-court-sized” satellites pose a collision risk…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":14374,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[64,63,128,285],"class_list":["post-15190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-space","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-science","tag-space"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15190","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15190"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15190\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14374"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}