China To Deploy 13,000 Satellites To Destroy Starlink

China is aiming to send thousands of satellites into low-Earth orbit to compete with SpaceX’s Starlink, Jackie Appel reported for Popular Mechanics.

Photo Insert: The project, codenamed “GW,” is being run by a newly established group called China Satellite Network Group Co.

The satellites will be able to track those in the Starlink mega-constellation, and will secure China a place in the low-orbit space. As worries about the militarization of Starlink persist, China aims to be able to monitor the positions and behaviors of Starlink satellites and disable them if they see the need.

China is preparing to send almost 13,000 satellites into low-Earth orbit (LEO) in order to directly compete with—and monitor—SpaceX’s Starlink constellations.

The project, codenamed “GW,” is being run by a newly established group called China Satellite Network Group Co, whose hope is to quickly launch a total of 12,992 small satellites into orbit.

This would dwarf Starlink’s current count of around 3,500 satellites, though SpaceX plans to have 12,000 satellites in orbit by 2027 and an eventual total count of 40,000 orbiting devices.

China’s need to move so quickly on this project comes from a desire to prevent Starlink from dominating the low-Earth orbit space and preventing other countries from occupying the area.

Researchers at the People’s Liberation Army’s Space Engineering University in Beijing involved with the China Satellite Network Group Co are hoping, according to the South China Morning Post, to “ensure that our country has a place in low orbit and prevent the Starlink constellation from excessively pre-empting low-orbit resources” and “gain opportunities and advantages at other orbital altitudes, and even suppress Starlink.”

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