China is close to launching its first batch of satellites for a mega constellation aimed at rivaling US company SpaceX\u2019s Starlink Internet network. As reported by Xinhua, state-run Shanghai Spacecom Satellite Technology (SSST) launched the first components on the network. SSST\u2019s constellation has been named \u201cThousand Sails.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The project, also known as the G60 Constellation, was set up last year to establish a Chinese-based global low-Earth orbit (LEO)<\/strong> 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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 \u201cglobal network coverage\u201d by 2027.<\/strong> 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\u2019s surface.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Reuters separately reported that Chinese researchers in the People\u2019s 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\u2019s Thousand Sails constellation is one of three \u201cten-thousand star constellations\u201d<\/strong> 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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\u2019s interests. These editorials have described Starlink and SpaceX as part of the \u201cspace hegemony\u201d<\/strong> the United States is trying to create in space, giving it a \u201cunilateral space military advantage.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" China is close to launching its first batch of satellites for a mega constellation aimed at rivaling US company SpaceX\u2019s Starlink Internet network. As reported by Xinhua, state-run Shanghai Spacecom Satellite Technology (SSST) launched the first components on the network. SSST\u2019s constellation has been named \u201cThousand Sails.\u201d Project Overview The project, also known as the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":419,"featured_media":168072,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5241],"tags":[68],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-168055","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-current-affairs-august-2024","tag-science-technology-current-affairs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gkseries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168055","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gkseries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gkseries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gkseries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/419"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gkseries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=168055"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.gkseries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168055\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":168073,"href":"https:\/\/www.gkseries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168055\/revisions\/168073"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gkseries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/168072"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gkseries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=168055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gkseries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=168055"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gkseries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=168055"},{"taxonomy":"offerexpiration","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gkseries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/offerexpiration?post=168055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Initial Launch<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Strategic Implications<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Military Concerns<\/h2>\n\n\n\n