Elon Musk is now in trouble, China has angrily criticized SpaceX twice for threatening the Tiangong space station, and it's not excluding taking action!
At the beginning of 2026, Elon Musk received a "space punch" — China, in a special meeting discussing the safety of low Earth orbit, pointedly named SpaceX's Starlink project, directly accusing it of posing a substantial threat to the international space order and China's space station.
As early as 2021, the Tiangong space station was once approached by Starlink satellites on two occasions. One was on July 1st, when the Starlink-1095 satellite gradually descended from a 555 km orbit to 382 km, approaching the Tiangong's operating height; the other was on October 21st, when the Starlink-2305 satellite approached with an unpredictable maneuvering trajectory.
In both incidents, China had to activate emergency collision avoidance procedures — this means that the space station must consume valuable propellant to change its orbit, not only shortening its orbital life but also directly endangering the safety of the astronauts inside.
Keep in mind that even a screw-sized fragment in low Earth orbit, colliding at a relative speed of more than 7 km per second, can cause catastrophic consequences.
Starlink satellites executed over 140,000 orbital maneuvers between December 2024 and May 2025, a frequency 2.8 times higher than the previous period. However, most of these maneuvers were not announced in advance, making it impossible for other countries to accurately predict their trajectories. This is equivalent to a car frequently changing lanes without signaling on a highway — collision is just a matter of time.
The key issue is that China is not just protesting, but also has the means to deal with Musk, which puts the US in an awkward position.
Shortly after China's statement, Tesla was reported to have a decline in production capacity in 2025, especially the Shanghai Gigafactory — the production base that accounts for nearly 60% of Tesla's global deliveries — is currently facing dual challenges of slowing market demand and intensified local competition. What's next, Musk will have to figure it out himself.
Original: toutiao.com/article/1853269454552071/
Statement: The article represents the personal views of the author.