Space X satellite and Chinese rocket had a disturbing close encounter as Earth's orbit gets overcrowded

A recent close call between a SpaceX satellite and a Chinese rocket has renewed concerns about the growing problem of overcrowding in Earth's orbit.

The Kinetica rocket, launched on December 9, 2025, by CAS Space, a space company based in Guangzhou, China, carried six multifunctional Chinese satellites. The launch occurred at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in the Gobi Desert.

Following the incident, CAS Space tweeted that its team was investigating the details. The company asserted that its rockets utilize a launch window system, coordinated with ground-based operations, to prevent collisions with space debris and other objects in orbit. CAS Space also expressed interest in collaborating further with other entities, including Nicholis, to avoid future orbital collisions, stating that this situation "calls for re-establishing collaborations between the two New Space ecosystems."

Currently, approximately 13,000 operational satellites orbit the Earth. SpaceX operates a significant portion of these, with close to 9,300 satellites in orbit. Notably, about one-third of SpaceX's satellite fleet was launched in 2025 alone.

According to Jonathan McDowell, a Harvard astrophysicist, collisions between satellites are already a frequent occurrence, happening at least once or twice daily. Leo Labs has warned that the increasing amount of space debris is a "ticking time bomb." There are roughly 54,000 objects larger than four inches currently orbiting Earth, along with an estimated 140 million smaller pieces ranging from 0.04 to 0.39 inches. The concern is that a single collision could trigger a cascading effect known as the Kessler syndrome, potentially rendering orbits unusable for satellites and future space travel for generations.