China mulls Space-Shooting Lasers to counter Musk’s Starlink satellites
Stealth submarines equipped with space-shooting lasers, supply-chain disruption, and specialized attack satellites armed with ion thrusters. Chinese scientists are developing various strategies to counter what Beijing perceives as a significant threat: Elon Musk’s Armada of Starlink communications satellites.
The Chinese government and military scientists, wary of Starlink’s potential applications by adversaries in military conflicts and espionage, have released numerous papers in public journals examining methods to track and eliminate Musk’s satellites, an Associated Press review revealed. Chinese researchers assert that Starlink, a vast constellation of low-orbit satellites providing affordable, rapid, and widespread connectivity—even in remote regions—poses a significant threat to the Chinese government and its strategic interests.
The company’s close ties to the US intelligence and defense establishment, along with its expanding global footprint, have primarily fueled that fear. As the United States incorporates Starlink technology into its military space assets for a strategic edge over adversaries, other nations are increasingly viewing Starlink as a security threat across nuclear, space, and cyber domains, according to professors from China’s National University of Defense Technology in a 2023 paper.
Concerns about Starlink, which dominates certain space-based communications, extend beyond Chinese researchers. Some traditional US allies are questioning the wisdom of entrusting core communications infrastructure and a potential trove of data to a company led by an unpredictable foreign businessman with unclear allegiances. Concerns intensified following Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, highlighting the battlefield advantages that Starlink satellites could provide, further complicated by Musk’s expanding political interests.
Musk invested tens of millions of dollars into President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign and briefly became a significant adviser and government official. Musk is considering the formation of his own political party while simultaneously engaging more with European politics. He is leveraging his influence to support various hard-right and insurgent figures who frequently clash with establishment politicians. Musk departed from the Trump administration in May, and shortly thereafter, his relationship with Trump deteriorated publicly in a social media feud. SpaceX, the rocket launch and space-based communications company founded by Musk, operates Starlink and remains closely tied to essential US government functions. It has secured billions in contracts to deliver launch services for NASA missions and military satellites, rescue astronauts stranded at the International Space Station, and construct a network of spy satellites for the National Reconnaissance Office.
Starlink’s space dominance has ignited a worldwide race to develop viable alternatives. However, its significant first-mover advantage has granted SpaceX near monopoly power, further complicating the intersections of business, politics, and national security surrounding Musk and his companies. Since its initial launches in 2019, Starlink has accounted for approximately two-thirds of all active satellites, as noted by Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, who tracks satellite launches in a newsletter. SpaceX currently operates over 8,000 active satellites and plans to deploy tens of thousands more in the future.
Beijing perceives Starlink as a tool of US military power, prompting intensified efforts to develop countermeasures. The deployment of these measures could heighten the risk of collateral damage to other customers as SpaceX broadens its global presence. The satellites that traverse China also have the potential to serve Europe, Ukraine, the United States, and other regions as they orbit the earth. Starlink operates in over 140 countries and has recently expanded its presence in Vietnam, Niger, Somalia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Pakistan. In June, Starlink secured a license to operate in India, navigating national security concerns and strong domestic telecom interests to access a tech-savvy market of nearly 1.5 billion people. The company’s coverage map shows minimal dead zones, with the exceptions of North Korea, Iran, and China.
No other country or company is near matching Starlink’s capabilities. Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos has targeted rival Musk with Project Kuiper, which deployed its first batch of internet satellites into orbit in April. Amazon currently has 78 satellites in orbit, with plans for 3,232, according to McDowell. Meanwhile, London-based Eutelsat OneWeb operates approximately 650 satellites, significantly fewer than its original fleet plan.
The European Union is investing billions in the IRIS2 initiative to develop its own satellite array, yet it remains significantly behind. EU officials have lobbied member states against signing contracts with Starlink during its initial setup phase. “We are allies with the United States of America, but we need to have our strategic autonomy,” said Christophe Grudler, a French member of the European Parliament who led legislative work on IRIS2. The risk lies in not having our destiny in our own hands.
China has openly expressed its ambition to create its own version of Starlink, aiming to address domestic national security requirements while also competing with Starlink in international markets. In 2021, Beijing created the state-owned China SatNet company, assigning it the responsibility of launching a military-capable megaconstellation called Guowang. In December, the company launched its first operational satellites and now has 60 of a planned 13,000 in orbit, according to McDowell. Qianfan, a company supported by the Shanghai government, has successfully launched 90 satellites from a total of approximately 15,000 planned. In November, the Brazilian government announced a deal with Qianfan, following a heated public dispute between Musk and a Brazilian judge investigating X, who had also frozen SpaceX’s bank accounts in the country. Qianfan is targeting customers in Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Oman, Pakistan, and Uzbekistan, with ambitions to expand across the African continent, according to a slide presented at a space industry conference last year and published by the China Space Monitor.
Concerns regarding Starlink’s dominance intensified following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The war marked a pivotal moment in strategic considerations regarding Starlink and comparable systems. Ukraine utilized the Starlink network to enhance battlefield communications and power fighter and reconnaissance drones, yielding a significant advantage on the ground. Access to the satellites was initially controlled by one individual, Musk, who had the ability to interrupt critical services. He notably refused to extend coverage to support a Ukrainian counterattack in Russia-occupied Crimea. US-led sanctions against Moscow following the full-scale invasion limited the availability of Western technology in Russia, highlighting the geopolitical risks of depending on foreign entities for access to critical infrastructure.
Starlink’s widespread presence and possible military uses have alarmed Beijing, prompting action from the nation’s scientists. Researchers have meticulously evaluated the strengths and weaknesses of a network they view as threatening, aiming to comprehend what China could adopt from Musk’s company as Beijing seeks to create a comparable satellite system. While Starlink does not function in China, Musk’s satellites can still traverse Chinese territory. In 2023, researchers from China’s National Defense University simulated Starlink’s coverage of crucial areas, including Beijing, Taiwan, and the polar regions, concluding that Starlink can provide continuous coverage of Beijing. The Starlink constellation’s coverage capacity across all regions of the world is improving steadily and rapidly, they concluded. A government-backed paper by the China Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team outlined vulnerabilities in Starlink’s supply chain. The company reported having over 140 first-tier suppliers, along with numerous second-tier and third-tier suppliers downstream, as stated in a 2023 paper. Cybersecurity supervision is limited.
Engineers from the People’s Liberation Army proposed in a 2023 paper the creation of a fleet of satellites to track Starlink satellites, aiming to collect signals and possibly employ corrosive materials to damage their batteries or ion thrusters, thereby interfering with their solar panels. Chinese academics have urged Beijing to leverage global regulations and diplomacy to contain Musk, while the nation’s engineers persist in developing active countermeasures: Utilize small optical telescopes currently in commercial production to observe Starlink arrays. Produce deep fakes to fabricate imaginary targets. Shoot powerful lasers to incinerate Musk’s equipment. Some US analysts suggest that Beijing’s fears might be exaggerated, yet these evaluations seem to have had minimal impact on the ongoing domestic discourse. One Chinese paper was titled: “Watch out for that Starlink.”
