SpaceX, OneWeb Disagree About Satellite 'Near Miss'

OneWeb and SpaceX clashed over what was supposedly said in a meeting between the two and the FCC. SpaceX said reports of a supposed "near miss" between SpaceX and OneWeb satellites are wrong, per an International Bureau post Tuesday about a call with the companies and IB Chief Tom Sullivan. SpaceX is "disappoint[ed] ... that OneWeb officials chose to publicly misstate the circumstances of the coordination [but] grateful that OneWeb offered ... to retract its previous incorrect statements." SpaceX said the probability of a collision never exceeded the threshold for a maneuver, and the two wouldn't have hit “even if no maneuver" occurred. It said it turned off its autonomous collision avoidance system only after OneWeb's request, as OneWeb decided to do a maneuver. OneWeb, in a filing being posted, said it "made no such offer to retract any previous statements made to the press," and "press coverage can sometimes be erroneous in certain respects." The company "stands by its story as reported to the press," it said. OneWeb said it "was delighted to participate in the discussion with SpaceX and [the bureau] and found the exchange of facts and data between the engineering teams for SpaceX and OneWeb to be outstanding." The FCC didn't comment Wednesday.