China has announced plans to put some 13,000 satellites into orbit to compete with Starlink, Elon Musk’s SpaceX satellite internet, a new headache for the world’s richest man.
According to a report from South China Morning Postquoted in a report by hypertextual, the Chinese military will launch these satellites to offer the same services as its American counterpart, but will also include functions to spy on its opponents. The code name of the project is GW.
But Elon Musk’s alarm seems to go off when he learns that in addition to offering the Internet and spying on its users, China plans to set up a network capable of neutralizing Starlink.
Unlike SpaceX, China not only plans to provide the internet and spy on its users, but to set up a network capable of neutralizing Starlink. This project is being developed by researchers from the Beijing University of Space Engineering.
China aims to win satellite race from Starlink
Xu Can, professor in charge of GW, revealed that the satellite constellation consists of 12,992 satellites that can be rapidly deployed. Chinese researchers plan to launch them before Elon Musk and SpaceX hog the resources with Starlink.
Xu Can explained to Command Control and Simulation magazine that the deployment would ensure that the Asian giant would have a place in low orbit, although its satellites can be installed at other orbital altitudes. Chinese scientists are confident that their technology can be placed in areas where Starlink has not reached.
Perhaps the most important thing in the article is that the GW constellation can be equipped with “anti-Starlink” payloads. According to Can, the Chinese satellites can perform short-range and long-range surveillance tasks.
The reason why the Chinese military stepped up efforts for this project is that it believes that Starlink’s satellites monitor space and can receive data from the US Department of Defense to coordinate their positions.