China is close to launching its first batch of satellites for a mega constellation aimed at rivaling US company SpaceX’s Starlink Internet network. As reported by Xinhua, state-run Shanghai Spacecom Satellite Technology (SSST) launched the first components on the network. SSST’s constellation has been named “Thousand Sails.”
Project Overview
The project, also known as the G60 Constellation, was set up last year to establish a Chinese-based global low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite Internet network competitor to Starlink. Starlink, a subsidiary of SpaceX, has a broadband constellation of around 5,500 satellites, used by consumers, companies, and government agencies.
Initial Launch
Xinhua reported that 18 communications satellites entered their designated orbits smoothly after lifting off from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre in Shanxi province in a Long March 6A carrier rocket. SSST plans to launch 108 satellites this year and 648 by the end of next year to provide “global network coverage” by 2027. By the end of the decade, SSST aims to deploy 15,000 satellites. LEO satellites typically operate at altitudes of 300km to 2,000km from the Earth’s surface.
Strategic Implications
Reuters separately reported that Chinese researchers in the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) have studied the deployment of Starlink in the war in Ukraine and repeatedly warned about the risks it poses to China if the nation becomes engaged in military conflict with the US. SSST’s Thousand Sails constellation is one of three “ten-thousand star constellations” that China intends to deploy to compete with SpaceX. China has previously told the International Telecommunication Union that it plans to deploy 51,300 satellites, while SpaceX has set a target of 42,000 satellites by 2027.
Military Concerns
Since 2022, when the Ukraine war demonstrated the importance of Starlink to battlefield communications, media affiliated with the PLA have published several editorials about the threat Starlink poses to China’s interests. These editorials have described Starlink and SpaceX as part of the “space hegemony” the United States is trying to create in space, giving it a “unilateral space military advantage.”