NASA Conditionally Backs SpaceX’s Use of Very Low Earth Orbit Satellites

WASHINGTON, Oct. 30, 2024 – NASA has conditionally approved SpaceX’s plan to operate 400 of its second-generation satellites in very low-Earth orbit, or vLEO, a zone below 450 km that sits just beneath the International Space Station. 

This approval, detailed in a recent letter to the Federal Communications Commission, underscored NASA’s cautious support for vLEO operations, as long as safety protocols are established to protect multinational space stations. 

NASA highlighted risks including potential collision, known as “conjunction events,” as a key concern in its ongoing discussions with SpaceX. The agency expressed caution, noting that SpaceX’s proposal, first submitted in 2017, “conceptually poses risks to visiting vehicle traffic to/from the ISS.”