This month, Josef Aschbacher, the director general of ESA, warned that the thousands of communications satellites launched by Starlink would result in there being far less space for competitors. Other experts have said that much larger distances are needed between spacecraft to avoid collisions than Mr Musk has suggested. Scientists have also previously voiced concerns about the risks of collisions in space and called on world governments to share information about the estimated 30,000 satellites and other space debris that are orbiting Earth. Mr Musk made headlines this week as he faced a social media backlash after China complained that its space station was forced to avoid collisions with satellites launched by his Starlink project. The country’s space station had two “close encounters” with Starlink satellites this year, Beijing claimed. The incidents occurred on 1 July and 21 October, according to a document submitted by China this month to the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs. “For safety reasons, the China Space Station implemented preventive collision avoidance control,” Beijing said in the document published on the agency’s website. The incidents behind the complaints, lodged with the UN’s space agency, have not yet been independently verified. China also accused the US of putting astronauts in danger by ignoring obligations under outer space treaties. Foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said China was urging the US to act responsibly. SpaceX has already launched almost 1,900 satellites as part of the Starlink network, and plans to deploy thousands more.

Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Global has seen its losses deepen after Beijing ordered online stores not to offer the company’s app.

The firm reported an operating loss of $6.3bn (£4.7bn) for the first nine months of year as revenues in China fell by 5% in the third quarter.

The Chinese crackdown came just days after Didi made its New York stock market debut at the end of June.

This month, it said it will move its share listing to Hong Kong from the US.

In recent months, Didi has become one of the most high profile targets of Beijing’s clampdown on the country’s technology industry.

The restrictions placed on it by authorities in China have hit its share price in the US hard.

The company’s value on the New York Stock Exchange has fallen by 65% since its debut less than six months ago.

In its latest report to investors the firm also said that its board had authorised it to pursue a listing of its shares on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

“The company is executing above plans and will update investors in due course,” Didi said.

Didi’s announcement early in December that it planned to leave the US stock market came on the same day that the US Securities and Exchange Commission said it had finalised rules that would mean US-listed foreign companies can be delisted if their auditors do not comply with requests for information from regulators.

“Following careful research, the company will immediately start delisting on the New York stock exchange and start preparations for listing in Hong Kong,” the company said at the time.

Didi also said in Thursday’s announcement that Daniel Zhang, the chief executive of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, who had served as a director on its board since 2018, has resigned from the role.

As well as coming under intense scrutiny from Chinese regulators, Didi now faces tough competition in its home market from ride-hailing services launched by car makers Geely and SAIC Motor.

 

Z24 News

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