March 7, 2023 Updated: March 7, 2023
SpaceX founder and Tesla
CEO Elon Musk speaks on a screen during the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in
Barcelona, Spain, on June 29, 2021. (Nacho Doce/Reuters)
Starlink, which is
operated by SpaceX and has played a huge role in the Russian-Ukrainian war, has
caused the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) great concern. The Chinese regime has
now revealed plans to counter Starlink with a project
codenamed “GW.” However, whether China actually has the capability
to compete with Elon Musk’s Starlink in any way, shape, or form is
questionable.
Recently, the CCP’s
leading military research institute published an article saying
that Starlink’s nearly 42,000 low-orbiting satellites are capable of providing
high-speed internet and have great military potential, which poses a huge
threat to the CCP’s space program. The article pointed out that is it necessary
for China to find a way to counter Starlink.
CCP
Seeks to Surpass Starlink
According to the CCP’s
researchers, Chinese satellite company “China Satellite Network Group Co.” can
construct China’s low-orbiting satellite network, which will be codenamed GW.
China Satellite Network Group was established on April 28, 2021, directly by
the State Council of the CCP to coordinate the deployment and operation of
satellite communications. It has been revealed that the company is expected to
launch nearly 13,000 low-orbit satellites.
James Andrew Lewis,
senior vice president and director of the Technology and Public Policy Program
at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told The Epoch Times on
March 3 that due to China lagging behind other countries in the area of
satellite technology, it cannot occupy all of the low orbits and replace
Starlink, and the launch of satellites needs to go through a UN approval
process.
China’s
Satellite Launches Far Less Efficient
Previously, Chinese state
media reported that the CCP expects to launch an average of more than 180
satellites per year between 2023 and 2030, and more than 1,700 satellites per
year between 2033 and 2035 to establish its satellite network.
On the other hand, SpaceX
proposed to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in August 2021 the
launch of 30,000 Starlink 2.0 satellites to replace the current lower-bandwidth
Starlink 1.0 satellite system. The FCC has approved a total of 12,000 Starlink
satellites for launch by SpaceX and may approve SpaceX’s plan for 30,000 more.
In addition, Musk expects to launch Starlink 2.0 using Starship, which will be
reusable and capable of sending people to space.
Xia Luoshan, host of
“Military Focus,” told The Epoch Times on March 2 that the CCP’s plan involves
two major goals: one is to construct China’s own Starlink equivalent to compete
with the United States, and the other is to be able to launch attacks on U.S.
satellites. “Neither of these two things is easy,” he said. “Putting tens of
thousands of satellites into orbit has only become possible since SpaceX
launched reusable vehicles. I do not see the CCP having the same capability at
this point.”
Attempts
to Attack US Satellites
The CCP researcher’s
article also claims that China’s satellites must suppress Starlink by deploying
“lethal” weapons on them in order to destroy their reconnaissance and flight
capabilities. Because the CCP sees the military value of Starlink and its role
in the Russian-Ukrainian war, it sees Starlink as a threat and is seeking the
means to be able to destroy it through electronic warfare and electromagnetic
interference technologies.
Musk revealed on Oct. 7,
2022, that the Chinese regime had made it clear that it did not approve of his
use of Starlink to help the Ukrainian military in the war, and the regime had
asked him for assurances that Starlink services would not be sold in China.
Musk also spoke in 2015 about the possibility of the CCP blowing up his
Starlink satellite network if he provided an internet service that is not
censored by the CCP.
The current international
order dictates that there be no weapons placed in space, but the CCP’s
ambitious agenda may change that.
Using
Private Companies to Develop Military Satellites
The CCP has publicly
incorporated satellite networks into its new infrastructure of communications
networks, including 5G networks, AI, cloud computing, data centers, and
blockchains, allowing low-orbit satellites to drive these technological
developments. At the same time, the regime adopts a “military-civil fusion”
approach in running its military development.
An April 2022 report in
Taiwan’s National Defense and Security Fortnightly reported an increase in
newly registered “private” commercial satellite companies in China, with more
than six times as many registered in 2020 as in 2010, with these companies in
essence being funded by the CCP behind the scenes but posing as private
enterprises on the surface.
For example, Commsat, an
ostensibly private company in Beijing, received hundreds of millions of dollars
in investments from the China Internet Investment Fund under the Chinese
Ministry of Finance and from a number of Chinese state-owned enterprises.
The report also noted
that China Great Wall Industry Corporation, a subsidiary of China Aerospace
Science and Technology Corporation, launched six low-orbit communication
satellites via non-reusable rockets in March last year as part of one of four
low-orbit satellite systems proposed by the CCP. However, there have been no
further breakthroughs in this satellite program.
https://www.theepochtimes.com/chinas-gw-project-aimed-at-countering-elon-musks-starlink_5100918.html
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