According to PCMag, an article released last month in China’s Modern Defence Technology journal warned of the possible hazards posed by Starlink satellites.
According to the SCMP, the study was directed by Ren Yuanzhen, a researcher with the PLA’s Strategic Support Force’s Beijing Institute of Tracking and Telecommunications, and co-authored by numerous renowned scientists in China’s defence industry.
“While [Starlink] is booming and also because of its huge comprehensive application potential, it has brought hidden dangers and challenges to our country,” the paper reads. “A combination of soft and hard kill methods should be adopted to make some Starlink satellites lose their functions and destroy the constellation’s operating system.”
The researchers claim that Starlink might be used in the military to allow drones and stealth fighter jets to enhance their data transfer speeds by more than 100 times.
According to the report, the satellites may also provide online connectivity to troops in the field, use their ion thrusters to knock out high-value targets in space, and carry military payloads.
SpaceX has agreed to work with the US Defense Department on developing devices to identify and track hypersonic missiles, which is another source of concern for China.
According to Ren, China’s military policies must be adjusted to defeat Starlink satellites. It is already developing microwaves that can disrupt satellite communications or burn components, as well as lasers that can damage or blind satellites.
Ren did rule out the use of missiles due to the debris that such a system would cause, as well as the current number of Starlink satellites: over 2,000, with ambitions to increase to over 30,000.
China has created a Starlink-like service named Xing Wang, or StarNet, to provide internet connectivity to those in rural areas. China filed a complaint with the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs in December, alleging that a Starlink satellite had come dangerously close to colliding with their space station. After Dmitry Rogozin, the president of Russian space agency Roscosmos, threatened Elon Musk over the Starlink terminals sent to aid Ukraine, the world’s richest man tweeted: “If I die under mysterious circumstances, it’s been nice knowin ya.”
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