China is developing a rapid-response space defence system to intercept suspicious spacecraft and push them away, according to a senior scientist.
“Sometimes another spacecraft may deliberately come close – maybe just to take a look – but it can still interfere with our operations,” Sun said during a public talk on the technological progress and plans for Tiangong, at Nanjing University of Science and Technology on Tuesday.
“In such cases, we first try to assess their intent. Then we choose how to respond – whether by dodging, adjusting our orbit, or releasing a small robot to grab and redirect the object,” he said while answering questions from the audience.
According to the submission, Starlink-1095 and Starlink-2305 descended from their usual 550km (342-mile) orbits and entered Tiangong’s operational zone around 380km, prompting emergency avoidance actions on July 1 and October 21.
