![]() ![]() The GW satellites would consist of a variety of sub constellations operating from 500 to 1,145 kilometers in altitude, in inclinations from 30 to 85 degrees. NSF’s National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory/CTIO/AURA/DELVE, CC-BY-SA-4.0 Civilian Concerns Starlink has already raised multiple issues – like light trails – that only become apparent when you launch thousands of satellites. ![]() However, it’s nonetheless worth noting that Chinese scientists are exploring how best the GW constellation could counter the perceived military threat of Starlink. Research efforts into anti-Starlink countermeasures are in their early stages, and anything truly valuable is likely classified. Instead, however, if another country had its own fleet of thousands of satellites in similar orbits with appropriate countermeasures, it may be better placed to disrupt their operation in other ways. Using current missiles for the job would create enough space junk to seriously frustrate a wide range of space operations, recalling the dreaded Kessler syndrome. In a military sense, current anti-satellite countermeasures simply wouldn’t be practical to destroy a megaconstellation of over 40,000 satellites. It’s this reasoning that prompted researchers to explore potential countermeasures to disrupt or suppress Starlink satellites in orbit. SpaceX has also been contracted by the US to develop military satellites, further raising the hackles of foreign countries. By sheer virtue of their extreme number and their manuverability, Starlink satellites pose a risk that others simply don’t. It bears noting that Starlink was primarily developed as a civilian communications system, though it does have significant military applications like most communications systems do. Researchers highlighted fears that Starlink satellites could be used as maneuverable weapons to strike targets in orbit, or to surveil the space environment. The paper noted that there were concerns that the high number of satellites planned for the Starlink constellation could overwhelm China’s efforts to monitor and track their activity. Furthermore, the paper proposes that satellites in the GW constellation could be equipped with “anti-Starlink” payloads, such as to surveil the operation of Starlink satellites at close range. The news comes from a paper published in a Chinese journal concerning potential anti-Starlink efforts in space. One of the project’s alleged aims is to secure space for Chinese satellites in low orbits before Starlink satellites occupy the area. According to Space News, the new network will absorb earlier plans by various Chinese space contractors to create a unified national network. The satellites would form the basis of China’s own national satellite internet network, akin to the efforts by SpaceX and OneWeb. In response, the country has reportedly developed its own domestic plan to launch 12,992 satellites under a project codenamed “Guowang” or “GW”, according to a professor at the People’s Liberation Army Space Engineering University quoted by the South China Morning Press. Starlink’s plans to launch on the order of 42,000 satellites has Chinese authorities concerned. Such scale is key to getting thousands of satellites in the air in a quick and affordable manner. Getting Crowded SpaceX has pioneered mass-launch systems to deliver 52 Starlink satellites into orbit on a single mission. Now, it appears that China may be readying its own competing constellation to avoid being crowded out of low orbits by the increasingly-popular service. Starlink has already ruffled feathers due to concerns around light pollution and space junk in particular. That was until Starlink came along, and provided high-speed, low-latency internet access using a fleet of thousands of satellites in Low Earth orbit. Early networks relied on satellites in geostationary orbits, with high latency and minimal bandwidth keeping user demand low. Satellite internet used to be a woeful thing. ![]()
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