On August 6th, 18 “China Starlink” satellites of Shanghai Yuanxin Satellite Technology were successfully launched into space, “entering the scheduled orbit smoothly”. This marks the first launch of the “Qianfan Constellation” project, also known as the G60 Starlink project.
Witnessing the success of Elon Musk’s Starlink project not only in achieving significant commercial success but also showing great potential for military applications, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) felt threatened. Quickly following suit, the CCP launched a similar project for a near-Earth orbit communication satellite constellation in an attempt to rival Starlink.
SpaceX’s Starlink project is currently the only successful low-orbit satellite internet project with nearly 6,000 satellites in orbit and providing services in over 80 countries to 3 million users. The success of Starlink lies in key factors like technology, funding, costs, launch capabilities, and manufacturing capacity, all of which are crucial for such projects.
One of the main reasons why satellite internet projects have historically failed is due to high costs, inadequate launch capabilities, and insufficient funding. Traditional aerospace launches using disposable rockets tend to have long preparation times, high costs, and limited cargo capacity, posing significant bottlenecks.
The CCP’s consistent approach involves driving the economy through massive investments, seen in various initiatives like the Belt and Road, Xiong’an Project, green energy industry, new energy vehicles, and chip manufacturing, among others. Although many of these projects have yielded limited results, CCP leaders remain enthusiastic, with the aerospace sector being no exception to their ambitious plans.
With both the central and local governments setting targets and allocating funds, the next step is a competitive battle to secure resources. However, the CCP still distrusts private enterprises and continues to insist on state-owned enterprises leading the way with private enterprises providing support, a model reminiscent of chip manufacturing where it remains uncertain how much progress can be achieved.
In addition to the Shanghai Yuanxin Qianfan Constellation project, China has several large-scale low-orbit satellite constellation projects in the works, including the China Satcom National Grid project planning to launch 12,992 satellites; the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation’s Hongyan constellation planning to launch over 300 satellites; the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation’s Hongyun constellation planning to launch over 950 satellites; the Blue Arrow Aerospace’s “Hongqi 3” project planning to launch 10,000 satellites, as well as the Galaxy Aerospace’s Galaxy constellation, and others.
The future development of Starlink will pose significant challenges, requiring a larger number of satellites. The Starship will replace the Falcon 9 rocket to carry out the launch missions of Starlink satellites. SpaceX recently unveiled the first Raptor 3 rocket engine, which will greatly enhance the performance of the Starship rocket. Raptor is the engine of the Starship, using liquid oxygen and methane as propellants and employing the most advanced full-flow staged combustion cycle. As the Raptor technology progresses, its design becomes more streamlined while its performance continues to improve.
Moreover, Starlink also introduced a military version of the Star Shield project, which is expected to enhance satellite positioning capabilities in the future. This will make military communication and satellite navigation much more convenient, resistant to interference, and difficult to destroy. Currently, nearly 6,000 satellites are in operation under the Starlink project. If Starlink is able to achieve Musk’s envisioned massive scale of 30,000 to 40,000 satellites orbiting overhead, such a constellation would not only be formidable to destroy but could also potentially dismantle the Great Firewall that China has painstakingly built. Without the Great Firewall, the CCP’s network blockade would be significantly undermined, posing a serious threat to its control.
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