Chinese web users blast Musk over space station near-misses

Chinese social media users blasted Musk and his companies over the near-collision incidents, with one hashtag racking up 87 million views by Tuesday morning. — Reuters

BEIJING: Chinese web users slammed billionaire Elon Musk on Dec 28 after Beijing said its space station took evasive action to avoid hitting two of his SpaceX satellites, dealing a blow to the tycoon’s reputation in a country that has embraced his Tesla electric cars.

China’s Tiangong space station was forced to take “preventive collision avoidance control” during two “close encounters” with SpaceX’s Starlink satellites in July and October, according to a document submitted to the UN’s space agency by Beijing this month.