In October 2025, the Chinese National Space Administration unexpectedly contacted NASA to report a close approach between Chinese and U.S. satellites and offered to perform the avoidance maneuver while asking NASA to hold position. The exchange — described by NASA as a rare, celebrated moment — highlights growing congestion in low Earth orbit, with China planning ~26,000 satellites by 2029 and roughly 40,000 large debris fragments already in orbit. While legal barriers such as the Wolf Amendment limit formal ties, this practical coordination could seed routine information-sharing and shared protocols.
How China and NASA Quietly Averted a Satellite Collision — A Breakthrough in Orbital Cooperation
In October 2025, the Chinese National Space Administration unexpectedly contacted NASA to report a close approach between Chinese and U.S. satellites and offered to perform the avoidance maneuver while asking NASA to hold position. The exchange — described by NASA as a rare, celebrated moment — highlights growing congestion in low Earth orbit, with China planning ~26,000 satellites by 2029 and roughly 40,000 large debris fragments already in orbit. While legal barriers such as the Wolf Amendment limit formal ties, this practical coordination could seed routine information-sharing and shared protocols.
01:17 AM, 11/19/2025Science
Unprecedented coordination in a crowded sky
In October 2025 the Chinese National Space Administration (CNSA) contacted NASA to report a likely close approach — a conjunction — between one of its satellites and a U.S. spacecraft and offered to execute the avoidance maneuver while asking NASA to hold position. The outreach marked an unusual, operational moment of cooperation between two agencies that usually operate separately.
What happened
A conjunction occurs when two spacecraft in low Earth orbit pass near one another. Historically, NASA has often been the agency to warn when U.S. assets approached Chinese hardware. On this occasion, Alvin Drew, NASA's director of Space Sustainability, described the exchange as a welcome reversal:
"We had a bit of a celebration," Drew said, noting that CNSA informed NASA they were tracking a conjunction and recommended that NASA remain in place while China performed the avoidance maneuver.
Why it matters
Low Earth orbit is becoming crowded. Governments and commercial operators are launching satellites by the hundreds, shrinking the margin for error. SpaceX has invested billions building and scaling Starlink, and China’s state-run China Satellite Network Group has announced plans to deploy roughly 26,000 satellites by 2029. With so much hardware aloft, even small mistakes can cascade into major problems.
Debris is an escalating risk
Beyond active satellites, orbital debris is a growing threat. ESA data indicate there are roughly 40,000 sizable fragments in low Earth orbit, and such fragments have already destroyed satellites in the past. Today, there is no coordinated multinational program for large-scale debris removal, so agencies tend to react — tracking objects, predicting conjunctions, and performing avoidance maneuvers when risk thresholds are exceeded.
From a single call to broader cooperation
That CNSA proactively reached out to NASA is a concrete sign that operators can prioritize safety even amid strategic competition. If such operational contacts become routine, they could evolve into standardized information-sharing, common best practices for collision avoidance, and eventually joint research or infrastructure projects.
Policy and politics
Formal collaboration faces legal limits: the U.S. Wolf Amendment (2011) restricts NASA from using federal funds for bilateral cooperation with China, which complicates institutionalized partnerships. Still, informal, tactical coordination like the October 2025 exchange can build trust and practical protocols while policymakers debate the rules.
Quiet operational cooperation may not make headlines, but it reduces immediate collision risk and helps slow the accumulation of space junk. In a busier orbital environment, small, pragmatic steps like this one matter.