US military gives SpaceX access to restricted orbital tracking data

For the first time, the Space Force has given a commercial company enhanced access to its most detailed catalogue of objects in orbit, down to about 10 cm in size. In return, the government gets data from Starlink's cameras and sensors.

Near-collisions a day

50,000 conjunctions

The government's space traffic program helps prevent up to 50,000 near-collisions between satellites and other objects every day.

It's like giving a trucking company control of all the traffic lights, which they can switch to red whenever it's their competition's turn to go.

— Cole Donovan, former Traccs employee

The Space Force said it is engaging with several companies to exchange commercial data for access to parts of the controlled, unclassified catalogue. The Trump administration has twice tried to cut the space traffic program's funding, and Congress restored it.