Elon Musk rejects mounting criticism his satellites are clogging space

Elon Musk has rejected criticisms that his company is taking up too much room in space, saying his tens of thousands of planned satellites would be able to coexist with many others.

SpaceX has already launched more than 1,600 satellites, including a recent launch on 18 December which added a further 52, making it the focus of calls for regulation of space.

Musk dismissed criticisms that SpaceX was dominating radio frequencies and orbital slots, in an interview published by the Financial Times.

SpaceX has also drawn criticism from China, which this week publicly accused the US of ignoring international treaty obligations following two near misses between the Chinese space station and Starlink satellites. China said the space station had been forced to manoeuvre to avoid satellites in July and October.

Astronomers have also expressed increasing concern that the proliferation of tens of thousands of satellites will cause unalterable changes to the night sky if launches remain unregulated. Manufacturers have already tried to address such criticisms with design changes to make satellites less visible from Earth.