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Michael Nicolls, SpaceX’s vice president for Starlink and head of xAI, called for better data sharing among satellite operators to prevent collisions in orbit during a presentation at the International Astronautical Congress in Turkey. He noted that while the risk of any single collision is low, the law of large numbers suggests accidents will occur as more satellites fill space. Currently, SpaceX’s Starlink constellation holds over 11,000 satellites, which represents about two-thirds of all active spacecraft in low-Earth orbit when combined with thousands of pieces of space junk tracked by radars and telescopes.

Nicolls explained that without global rules requiring operators to broadcast their locations or maneuvers, there is no "right of way" in space. He cited examples where satellites from other operators changed trajectories without informing anyone, leading to close encounters ranging from tens to hundreds of meters apart. To mitigate this, SpaceX has lowered its active Starlink constellation below 500 kilometers (310 miles) and uses a system called Stargaze to track about 90 percent of intersecting maneuvering satellites. This allows Starlink to perform roughly 1,000 collision avoidance maneuvers daily, including "ducking maneuvers" where the satellite points itself to minimize collision risk.

Nicolls emphasized that while SpaceX shares ephemeris data with some partners like the Chinese space station, many international operators refuse to share information about their satellites’ movements. He stated that sharing this data is vital for safety, regardless of whether it offers a competitive advantage. In contrast, Rajeev Badyal, head of Amazon Leo, confirmed that his company coordinates closely with SpaceX and other operators regarding launch locations and orbital changes. Amazon currently has 396 satellites in orbit and plans to deploy thousands more in future networks.