China is calling on the United States to protect a Chinese space station and its three-member crew after Beijing complained that satellites launched by Elon Musk’s SpaceX nearly struck the station.

A foreign ministry spokesperson accused Washington on Tuesday of ignoring its treaty obligations to protect the safety of the Tiangong station’s three-member crew following the incidents on July 1 and October 21.

The Tiangong performed “evasive manoeuvres” to “prevent a potential collision” with Starlink satellites launched by Space Exploration Technologies Corp., the government said in a complaint on December 6 to the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space.

‘Typical double-standard’

The United States should “take immediate measures to prevent such incidents from happening again,” said the spokesperson, Zhao Lijian.

“It is a typical double standard for the US to proclaim the concept of ‘responsible conduct in outer space’ while ignoring its obligations under international treaties on outer space and posing a grave threat to the lives and safety of astronauts,” Mr Zhao said.

He also accused Washington of failing to carry out its obligations to “protect the safety of astronauts” under the 1967 Outer Space Treaty.