China has raised fresh concerns at the United Nations about the rapid growth in commercial internet satellites in low Earth orbit, warning that the trend poses serious safety, security, and legal risks.
The comments were made on Monday during an informal UN Security Council meeting convened by Russia, drawing renewed global attention to satellite congestion just days after a public exchange between Chinese space officials and a senior Starlink executive.
Speaking at the meeting, China’s representative said the rapid expansion of commercial satellite networks, particularly those operated by a single country, was outpacing international regulation.
According to a statement released by Beijing’s UN mission, the diplomat highlighted how large constellations were straining shared orbital and frequency resources and increasing the chance of dangerous incidents in space.
“In recent years, humanity has made new progress in the exploration and use of outer space,” the representative said.
“At the same time, it must also be noted that, with the rapid expansion of commercial space activities, the unchecked proliferation of commercial satellite constellations by a certain country, in the absence of effective regulation, has given rise to pronounced safety and security challenges.”
The remarks directly referenced SpaceX’s Starlink network, which currently has around 10,000 satellites in orbit. The system is designed to grow much larger, with plans for more than 42,000 satellites, each operating for about five years before being intentionally deorbited and burned up in the atmosphere.
China also pointed to specific incidents involving Starlink satellites. The representative cited two events in 2021 when Starlink spacecraft made close approaches to China’s space station, forcing astronauts to take evasive action.
The diplomat said the satellites had “conducted dangerous close approaches to China’s space station … posing grave threats to the safety of Chinese astronauts.”
More recently, another incident added to Beijing’s concerns. “Recently, [December 17] one Starlink satellite disintegrated in orbit, generating more than one hundred debris fragments,” the representative pointed out.
The growing amount of debris was described as especially dangerous for spacecraft operated by countries with limited tracking and maneuvering capabilities.
“For spacecraft operated by developing countries that lack orbit-control capability, space situational awareness, or sufficient reaction time, this undoubtedly constitutes a major risk.”
Military use and legal responsibility
Beyond physical safety, China warned that the increasing military use of commercial satellites was blurring the line between civilian and defense activities. The representative said satellites were being used for reconnaissance and battlefield communications, which “aggravated the risk of an arms race in outer space.”
“This has blurred the boundary between military and civilian activities in outer space, created accountability dilemmas, and posed challenges to the Outer Space Treaty and the law of state responsibility,” they stated.
The Outer Space Treaty, which came into force in 1967, holds states responsible for national space activities, including those carried out by private companies. The Chinese diplomat stressed that responsibility ultimately lies with governments.
“This means that, where commercial space activities impede the peaceful use of outer space by other states or fuel an arms race in outer space, the country concerned bears jurisdictional responsibility,” the representative explained.
Allegations, denials, and calls for dialogue
China also accused satellite operators of providing services across borders without authorization, claiming this had interfered in internal affairs in regions such as South Asia, Southeast Asia, and parts of Africa. According to the representative, Starlink services had been used by terrorists, separatist groups, and fraud networks in some areas.
Elon Musk has previously denied that Starlink was used by insurgents in India, saying its “satellite beams are turned off over India.” SpaceX also said in October that it had “proactively identified and disabled” more than 2,500 Starlink kits linked to suspected scam centers in Myanmar.
The UN remarks followed a December 13 social media post by Starlink vice president of engineering Michael Nicolls, who said there had been a near miss between a Starlink satellite and a newly launched Chinese satellite, adding that no coordination had taken place.
Chinese launch provider CAS Space responded that, if confirmed, the incident occurred after its mission had ended and called for renewed cooperation.
“This calls for re-establishing collaborations between the two new space ecosystems,” CAS Space said.
