In the race for low-earth orbit dominance, Beijing is years behind SpaceX and worried about the threat to its national security.
SpaceX has not released any information suggesting the project will include these capabilities. Its publicfacing website says the project will provide earth observation capabilities, communications and equipment to host unspecified payloads on its satellites.While there is no evidence that commercial networks like Starlink are currently being used for the advanced surveillance purposes claimed by Chinese academics, they have proved their potential on the battlefield.
In 2021, Beijing announced a new firm, led by figures plucked from the country’s top state-owned aerospace groups, to oversee its low-earth orbit mega-constellation. The enterprise, called China Satellite Network Group Co. Ltd., is designed to consolidate early state and civilian satellite programs and speed up deployment of the national project, analysts and people familiar with the plans said.
“In five years, if you were to tell me that China has 2,000 low-earth orbit communications satellites in orbit, I would say that’s probably about the baselineBut China’s late entry to the market could also limit its access to open frequencies in low orbit. “In 2015 and 2016, when there was this kind of the low-earth orbit satellite spectrum gold rush, the Chinese just weren’t there,” Curcio said. “And so I think that’s going to be a hindrance to them. It creates a certain level of urgency.
While the program is relatively nascent, Beijing’s anxiety over Starlink offers insight into the tense China-U.S. space competition.
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