Starlink operator SpaceX claims that Amazon violated orbital debris requirements by launching satellites into initial altitudes that are too high, increasing the risk of collision with other satellites and spacecraft. SpaceX, which recently reported two Starlink satellite failures that created new space debris, yesterday accused Amazon and its launch partner Arianespace of negligence that “needlessly and significantly increases risk to other operational systems and inhabited spacecraft.”
Amazon Leo, formerly known as Kuiper Systems, is launching satellites into low-Earth orbits (LEO) to compete against Starlink’s much larger constellation of broadband satellites. Amazon denied that its launch altitudes violate any requirements or impose a safety risk and said SpaceX itself helped Amazon launch satellites into a similar altitude last year when Amazon used SpaceX as a launch partner.
SpaceX only objected to the launch parameters after moving its Starlink satellites into nearby altitudes, Amazon said. Changing the altitude of a recent Leo launch would have delayed it by months, according to Amazon. Both Amazon and SpaceX have accused each other of using FCC proceedings to delay the other’s satellite launches at various times over the years.
Amazon also said it informed the FCC of the launch altitudes that SpaceX now objects to. SpaceX and CEO Elon Musk have a friend at the top of the FCC, though, as Chairman Brendan Carr recently slammed Amazon’s petition to deny a SpaceX request to launch up to 1 million satellites.
SpaceX’s letter to the Federal Communications Commission yesterday alleged that “Amazon is continuing to violate its approved orbital debris mitigation plan and the express conditions in its license—dispensing satellites 50-90 km higher than authorized and without adequate coordination or information sharing.”
SpaceX alleges “unmitigable collision risks”
Amazon told the FCC in a 2021 application that “Kuiper Satellites will be launched into an initial deployment orbit at or near 400 km” before being raised to orbital altitudes between 590 km and 630 km. “After injection at or near 400 km and successful checkout, each Kuiper Satellite will initiate collision avoidance procedures that will continue throughout on-orbit operations,” Amazon told the FCC in the filing that SpaceX cited in yesterday’s letter.
Amazon also told the FCC it would “further mitigate the risk of collision” by “coordinat[ing] during operations, in real-time, with systems through whose orbital altitudes Kuiper Satellites will transit.” The FCC subsequently approved Amazon’s orbital debris mitigation plan with license conditions requiring coordination and information-sharing with other space operators using similar orbits, SpaceX said.
“Despite its repeated representations and related license conditions, Amazon launched eight times into orbits with insertion altitudes above 450 km without submitting any amended orbital debris mitigation plan or seeking Commission approval for such a change,” SpaceX alleged. “Most recently, even with input from SpaceX, Amazon’s February 12, 2026, launch on Ariane 6 inserted its satellites at an altitude sufficiently high that it led to unmitigable collision risks with dozens of operational spacecraft.”
SpaceX alleged that “Amazon did not update its orbital debris mitigation plan” and “did not provide sufficiently accurate” information to other operators about the February launch. This “significantly increased the risks to all satellite operations near the 480 km insertion altitude as well as to inhabited spacecraft,” SpaceX said.
Amazon filed a letter with the FCC today to respond to the allegations. “The facts demonstrate that Amazon Leo launches to altitudes permitted under its license, has been transparent about its insertion altitudes with both the Commission and with SpaceX, and operates squarely within established industry safety standards,” Amazon said.
No safety violation, Amazon says
Amazon said its launch altitudes comply with the “at or near 400 km” license requirement, which provides “some flexibility in adjusting parameters.” Amazon said it went ahead with the 450 km insertion altitude because “changing near-term Ariane launch parameters would cause multi-month delays,” but has responded to SpaceX’s concerns by committing to using lower initial altitudes starting with its fourth Ariane mission. The February 12 mission was the first of 18 booked launches.
“Launch vehicle providers generally require at least months—and typically one year—to retarget insertion altitude due to the complexity of final mission analysis, which encompasses trajectory analysis, coupled loads analysis, and integrated thermal analysis,” Amazon told the FCC. “Arianespace, for example, requires three to six months for final mission analysis when changing target orbit parameters. Amazon Leo began this process immediately upon learning of SpaceX’s concerns and has worked diligently with its launch providers to implement changes as quickly as operationally feasible.”
Amazon said it “proposed a solution that would maintain Amazon Leo’s deployment schedule while still addressing SpaceX’s concerns,” but that “SpaceX declined this proposal and has not proposed alternative solutions.” Amazon also said it “explain[ed] the change to Commission staff before making it” and “noted a mean insertion altitude of 450 km in multiple space safety reports filed with the FCC.”
For the February 12 launch, Amazon said it coordinated to “ensure maneuver reliability through ISS’s altitude and to mitigate space safety risks caused by increased solar activity,” and “explained this safety-focused approach to SpaceX in coordination meetings long before launching production satellites into this altitude.”
New Starlink altitudes are near Amazon launch points
SpaceX has FCC authorization to launch 15,000 of its second-generation Starlink satellites at a variety of altitudes, including 475 km, 480 km, and 485 km. SpaceX alleged that Amazon’s February launch “forced Starlink satellites alone to perform 30 collision avoidance maneuvers within hours immediately following the Ariane launch to avoid the newly deployed satellites. Even in the presence of these maneuvers, the risk from this insertion is estimated to considerably exceed the Commission’s semi-annual reporting threshold of 1 × 10⁻⁵ for unmitigated conjunctions.”
Amazon said the risk threshold described in SpaceX’s letter “relies on a risk measurement methodology that the Commission expressly rejected when evaluating Amazon Leo’s orbital debris mitigation plans.” Amazon said it uses an industry-standard “risk threshold consistent with best practices adopted by both NASA and the FAA,” and “independently verified its risk posture with SpaceNav to ensure that the probability of collision remains within established industry standards.”
SpaceX itself launched Amazon satellites into an insertion altitude of 460 km in July 2025 and on two subsequent occasions, Amazon said. Amazon said that SpaceX only began raising objections in the past few months, “after lowering the altitude of its Starlink constellation to 475, 480, and 485 km (±30 km orbital tolerance), with satellites operating as low as 462 km at the equator. This adjustment placed SpaceX’s satellites directly into the altitude range Amazon Leo uses for orbit insertion—creating the overlap from which SpaceX’s concerns arise.”
SpaceX argued that “Amazon and Ariane unilaterally increased the insertion altitudes for the February 12, 2026, launch with full knowledge that thousands of satellites are already operating at those altitudes.” Noting that the FCC has approved more satellites to be lowered into those altitudes, SpaceX claimed that Amazon’s “unapproved action materially altered the collision risk profile the Commission evaluated when it approved Amazon’s orbital debris mitigation plan.”
SpaceX didn’t ask the FCC to take any specific action but said that Amazon must “swiftly ensure its launch plans comport with its authorization before it creates irreparable harm.” Amazon told the FCC in response that it “will continue to work constructively with SpaceX and other operators,” and said the agency “should recognize that the current situation stems in significant part from SpaceX’s own recent orbital adjustments, and that Amazon Leo has already taken meaningful steps to address the concerns those adjustments created.”
SpaceX satellite failures create space debris
SpaceX has over 10,000 Starlink satellites in orbit. The firm said this week that it was monitoring for space debris after losing contact with a satellite, but said the problem seemed to pose “no new risk” to other space operations. SpaceX reported a similar incident in December and has not said what caused the satellite failures.
LeoLabs, which uses a radar network to track objects in low-Earth orbit, has said the “fragment creation events” were apparently caused by the Starlink satellites themselves, not by collisions with debris or other space objects. In both cases, LeoLabs said it “detected tens of objects in the vicinity of the satellite after the event.”
SpaceX has also complained about collision risks from a Chinese constellation. Starlink Senior VP Michael Nicolls said in December that a Chinese company had launched nine satellites without coordinating with other space users, “resulting in a 200 meter close approach” between one of the Chinese satellites and a Starlink satellite.
SpaceX says it wants to launch a million satellites to create an orbital data center. The potentially massive constellation would increase the importance of measures to prevent creation of space debris, both from internal failures and collisions with other spacecraft.
