The first active debris removal mission in 2025 will attempt to remove part of a satellite. Image: ESA/ClearSpace SA

• A Chinese satellite was spotted in late January grabbing another long-dead satellite and days later throwing it into a ‘graveyard’ orbit 300 km away.
• These rare events were presented by Brien Flewelling in a webinar hosted by the Centre of Strategic and International Studies and Secure World Foundation last month.
• The Chinese SJ-21 satellite was seen on January 22 changing its usual place in the sky to approach decommissioned satellite Compass-G2. A few days later, SJ-21 attached to G2.

Something out of a Star Wars movie occurred in Earth’s orbit last month.

A Chinese satellite was spotted in late January grabbing another long-dead satellite and days later throwing it into a “graveyard” orbit 300 km away, where objects are less likely to hit spacecraft.

These rare events were presented by Brien Flewelling in a webinar hosted by the Centre of Strategic and International Studies and Secure World Foundation last month. Flewelling is the chief space situational awareness architect of ExoAnalytic Solutions, a private US company that tracks the position of satellites using a large global network of optic telescopes.

The Chinese SJ-21 satellite was seen on January 22 changing its usual place in the sky to approach decommissioned satellite Compass-G2. A few days later, SJ-21 attached to G2, altering its orbit.

Chinese officials haven’t yet confirmed that the apparent space tug occurred.

Over the course of the next few days, the spacecraft couple started dancing westward, ExoAnalytic’s video footage showed. By January 26, the two satellites separated, and G2 w