--- title: European Satellite Moves to Avoid SpaceX Collision description: The ESA fired the thrusters on an Earth observation satellite to avoid a potential collision with one of SpaceX’s Starlink satellites. canonical: https://time.com/5667047/spacex-satellite-collision/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-09-02T18:16:44.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-24T07:17:18.557Z article:section: Science og:title: A European Satellite Had to Fire Thrusters to Avoid Colliding With a SpaceX Satellite og:description: Such maneuvers are expected to become more common as more small satellites are launched og:url: https://time.com/5667047/spacex-satellite-collision/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt798fca922a1034b5/698a024f16d88492b7c36e7e/spacex-satellite.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: SpaceX Satellite og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: A European Satellite Had to Fire Thrusters to Avoid Colliding With a SpaceX Satellite twitter:description: Such maneuvers are expected to become more common as more small satellites are launched twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt798fca922a1034b5/698a024f16d88492b7c36e7e/spacex-satellite.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # A European Satellite Had to Fire Thrusters to Avoid Colliding With a SpaceX Satellite by [Craig Trudell / Bloomberg](https://time.com/author/bloomberg/) ## Craig Trudell / Bloomberg Sep 2, 2019 6:16 PM UTC  A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches from Vandenberg Air Force Base carrying the SAOCOM 1A and ITASAT 1 satellites, as seen during a long exposure on October 7, 2018 near Santa Barbara, California. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches from Vandenberg Air Force Base carrying the SAOCOM 1A and ITASAT 1 satellites, as seen during a long exposure on October 7, 2018 near Santa Barbara, California.David McNew—Getty Images by [Craig Trudell / Bloomberg](https://time.com/author/bloomberg/) ## Craig Trudell / Bloomberg Sep 2, 2019 6:16 PM UTC Three months after Elon Musk’s SpaceX launched the first set of what will be a broadband-providing constellation of satellites, other operators are already veering to keep their own spacecraft out of harm’s way. The European Space Agency tweeted Monday that it fired the thrusters on its Earth observation satellite [Aeolus](https://www.esa.int/Our%5FActivities/Observing%5Fthe%5FEarth/Aeolus/Introducing%5FAeolus) to avoid a potential collision with one of SpaceX’s Starlink satellites. The Musk-led company launched the first 60 of its satellites in May, [getting a jump](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-05-15/musk-gets-jump-start-on-bezos-launching-spacex-s-own-satellites) on fellow billionaire Jeff Bezos’s Amazon.com Inc., which is pursuing a similar endeavor called Project Kuiper. While the ESA said this is the first time it’s performed a collision-avoidance maneuver to protect one of its satellites from colliding with a constellation, they’re poised to become so common that using a manual process will be impossible. The agency [said in a tweet](https://twitter.com/esaoperations/status/1168540912282165248) that it’s preparing to automate avoidance maneuvers using artificial intelligence. Representatives for SpaceX didn’t immediately respond to an emailed request for comment. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5667047/spacex-satellite-collision/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5667047/spacex-satellite-collision/"},"headline":"A European Satellite Had to Fire Thrusters to Avoid Colliding With a SpaceX Satellite","datePublished":"2019-09-02T18:16:44.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T07:17:18.557Z","description":"Such maneuvers are expected to become more common as more small satellites are launched","url":"https://time.com/5667047/spacex-satellite-collision/","keywords":["Space","Bloomberg","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt798fca922a1034b5/698a024f16d88492b7c36e7e/spacex-satellite.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Craig Trudell / Bloomberg"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt798fca922a1034b5/698a024f16d88492b7c36e7e/spacex-satellite.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"SpaceX Satellite","caption":"SpaceX Satellite","creditText":"David McNew—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/space/","name":"Space"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5667047/spacex-satellite-collision/","name":"A European Satellite Had to Fire Thrusters to Avoid Colliding With a SpaceX Satellite"}}]}] ```