According to the news from the BBC, in the document submitted to the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNOOSA), it was stated that China had to take "collision control measures" to prevent the
Starlink satellites launched by Elon Musk 's SpaceX in July and October from colliding with the Tiangong space station.
Beijing requested from the secretary-general of the United Nations that "state parties must bear international responsibility" for activities in space.
Elon Musk ’s SpaceX has launched more than 1,600 satellites into space so far and has permission from the US Federal Communications Commission to launch up to 12,000 satellites.
Upon China's complaint to UNOOSA, Chinese social media users heavily criticized Elon Musk,
Starlink, and the US on the Chinese social networking site Weibo.
One person on Weibo described
Starlink’s satellites as "just a pile of space junk."
Jonathan McDowell of the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics was quoted as saying by the
Guardian that it was "highly unusual" for a country to lodge a complaint through an "informational bulletin."
McDowell stated that collisions in space are not uncommon and said, “Given the speed and number of launches of satellites, such incidents have increased in recent years.
Starlink is a big part of that."
SpaceX plans to establish a network of 12 thousand satellites in earth orbit with
Starlink satellites. The project is targeted to be completed in 2027.