In a noteworthy development, the China National Space Agency (CNSA) recently contacted NASA concerning a possible on-orbit collision. This interaction signals a shift towards increased collaboration between space agencies. According to Alvin Drew, NASA Space Sustainability director and former astronaut, the CNSA message included a recommendation: "We would like to recommend you hold still and we’ll do the maneuver." Drew shared this during a panel at the International Astronautical Congress.

“That’s the first time that has ever happened,” Drew stated, emphasizing the unprecedented nature of this communication. After years of limited interaction, China, a leading spacefaring nation, is beginning to share critical information with Western counterparts. While the communication was "a simple email," Drew told SpaceNews of its importance, highlighting it as "the first time we’re actually getting two-way communication between these two public space operators.”

This trend extends to commercial operators as well. Darren McKnight, senior technical fellow for LeoLabs, noted that "OneWeb has been contacted by a Chinese constellation to talk about where they’re going," and "SpaceX also has been contacted by a Chinese constellation."

Drew believes this coordinated effort suggests a broader directive within China. "Somebody is saying, ‘Yes, you can talk to them. Yes, you can coordinate with them.’” These discussions are crucial given the increasing number of megaconstellations, including China's Guowang and Qianfan constellations, SpaceX's Starlink, and Amazon's Project Kuiper.

The growing number of satellites necessitates “real-time information sharing across all of our agencies,” Drew explained. He sees the recent communication as "the first steps" in this direction. McKnight suggested that organizations such as the International Astronautical Federation (IAF) and the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) can facilitate this process.

Historically, the Wolf Amendment has restricted NASA's collaboration with CNSA. "Although we’re making progress, for years our ability to communicate with the Chinese National Space Agency has been extremely crude,” Drew acknowledged. Past communications were limited to one-way notifications of potential collisions, often without confirmation of receipt. "Once we did maneuver both at the same time and fortunately we missed,” Drew recounted. “We’ve come a long way.”