âLasers and Submarinesâ: Chinaâs Plan to Counteract Starlink
Chinese researchers are developing sophisticated military countermeasures to combat Elon Musk's Starlink satellite constellation, including stealth submarines equipped with space-targeting lasers and custom-built attack satellites armed with ion thrusters.
A review of dozens of research papers conducted by the Associated Press has revealed that Chinese teams are actively exploring methods to neutralise the satellite network, with strategies explicitly focused on how to "hunt and destroy" Starlink capabilities.
Military threat assessment
Beijing views Starlink as a significant security threat due to its close ties with US military intelligence.
"As the United States integrates Starlink technology into military space assets to gain a strategic advantage over its adversaries, other countries increasingly perceive Starlink as a security threat in nuclear, space and cyber domains," wrote professors from China's National University of Defense Technology in a 2023 paper.
The concerns intensified following Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, which demonstrated Starlink's battlefield advantages.
Ukraine utilised the network to facilitate communications and power reconnaissance drones, providing decisive advantages against Russian forces.
Nearly all 64 papers about Starlink reviewed in Chinese journals were published after the Ukraine conflict began.
Proposed countermeasures
Chinese military engineers have outlined various active countermeasures in their research papers.
Engineers from the People's Liberation Army — China’s national military — suggested creating satellite fleets to tail Starlink satellites, collecting signals and potentially using corrosive materials to damage batteries or ion thrusters to interfere with solar panels.
Other proposed methods include deploying small optical telescopes to monitor Starlink arrays, creating deepfakes to generate fictitious targets and shooting powerful lasers from submarines with the intention of burning Musk's equipment.
Researchers have also mapped vulnerabilities in Starlink's supply chain, noting that "the company has more than 140 first-tier suppliers and a large number of second-tier and third-tier suppliers downstream" with "limited supervision for cybersecurity".
Global strategic implications
Starlink's dominance has sparked international concern beyond China.
The network accounts for approximately two-thirds of all active satellites, with SpaceX operating more than 8,000 active satellites and planning to deploy tens of thousands more.
Some traditional US allies question the wisdom of handing core communications infrastructure to a company run by an unpredictable businessman whose allegiances are not always clear.
"We are allies with the United States of America, but we need to have our strategic autonomy," says Christophe Grudler, a French member of the European Parliament who led legislative work on the EU's competing IRIS2 initiative.
China's alternative development
Beijing has established the state-owned China SatNet company to develop Guowang, a competing megaconstellation with military capabilities.
The company launched its first operational satellites in December and now has 60 of a planned 13,000 satellites in orbit.
Elsewhere, Qianfan, a company backed by Shanghai government, has launched 90 satellites of some 15,000 planned, targeting customers in Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Oman, Pakistan and Uzbekistan.
The Brazilian government announced a deal with Qianfan in November, after Musk had a public dispute with a Brazilian judge investigating X.
By simulating Starlinkâs capabilities, Chinese researchers have managed to determine that its network can achieve round-the-clock coverage of Beijing, despite not operating within China's borders.
"The Starlink constellation coverage capacity of all regions in the world is improving steadily and at high speed," they concluded.
The development of these countermeasures could increase risks of collateral damage to other Starlink customers globally, as the same satellites serving China also potentially serve Europe, Ukraine, the United States and other regions.
