Overview
- SpaceX said one of CAS Space’s newly deployed payloads passed about 200 meters from STARLINK-6079 at roughly 560 km altitude.
- U.S. Space Force data, cited by astronomer Jonathan McDowell, showed a close approach early December 12 over the eastern Pacific and tagged the object as catalog 67001, with its exact identity still unresolved.
- The satellites were part of a December 9 CAS Space Kinetica‑1 launch from Jiuquan that deployed nine payloads.
- Starlink engineering VP Michael Nicolls criticized the lack of ephemeris sharing and called for stronger operator-to-operator coordination to reduce collision risk.
- CAS Space said it is investigating, noted it selects launch windows using space-awareness systems, and emphasized that post-separation satellite motion is outside the launch provider’s control.