Too Close for Comfort // Crowded Satellite Orbits Launch International Debate

HONG KONG A quarrel has broken out over a parking spot in space.

China is accused of wedging a satellite between two neighbors ina position that threatens all three with interference and coulddisrupt the race for the vast Asian satellite TV market.

It's believed to be the first incident of its kind, and raises aquestion that once belonged in the realm of science fiction: Is space running out of space?

China launched Apstar-1 on July 21 into geostationary orbit at131 degrees east over the equator.

Just one degree away on either side of Apstar-1 are theU.S.-owned Rimsat-1, broadcasting TV to India, and the JapaneseNTT-CS, carrying telephone traffic. One degree, experts say, is lessthan half the room a satellite needs to insulate itself from itsneighbor.

Japanese officials have rushed to Beijing to protest. AndMichael Sternberg, chief operating officer at Indiana-based RimsatLtd., also has been to the Chinese capital.

Industry experts say China apparently sidestepped the complexprocess of coordinating the launch with neighboring satelliteoperators, launching Apstar-1 just one year after announcing itsintention to do so. Usually the process takes about four years, theysay.

Some fear that other operators, eager for a place in thepotentially lucrative Asian sky, will be tempted to do likewise andplunge the satellite industry into a twilight zone.

"There's a great deal of competition for the slots coveringAsia-Pacific and there are two ways to go: Do what China has done,and the ultimate result will be anarchy in orbit, or try to workthrough the ITU structure," said Brian Jeffries, publisher of AsiaPacific Space Report.

The International Telecommunication Union, a UN agency based inGeneva, regulates satellite traffic but is not empowered to imposesolutions.

"There will probably be a problem, but we don't know. We werenot officially informed about this launch," said Gabor Kovacs, headof the ITU Space Services Department.

He said Apstar-1 was "seemingly drifting" and "we do not knowits exact position." Only when it parks and switches on will anyinterference become apparent.

Yang Xueming, a Hong Kong-based executive for Apstar's owner,denies the satellite poses a problem.

"We are in coordination with the Japanese, with Rimsat and othersatellite operators. We believe that we can get a solution that issatisfactory for everybody," he said.

Sternberg says he finds the Chinese "open and flexible," andhopes a solution will be reached. But he feels the dispute isominous.

"Eventually there's going to be orbital conflict. I think thisis only the beginning," he said.