China to launch 26,000 satellites, vying with US for space power

China will start building this year its own version of StarLink, a satellite internet constellation using low Earth orbit, with plans of launching some 26,000 satellites to cover the entire world led by military-affiliated companies.

Now that the military use of satellite-based communications systems for warfare in such places as Ukraine and Gaza is increasing, China will set up its own satellite network to compete with the U.S. as a "space power," Nikkei reports.

The construction of a commercial spacecraft launch site for China's StarLink is underway near the Wenchang Space Launch Site, one of the country's spaceports for big rockets, in the southern province of Hainan.

The launch site will be used mainly by the China Satellite Network Group (SatNet), wholly owned by the Chinese government. The group was founded in 2021 after Beijing informed the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) of its plan in 2020 to launch some 13,000 satellites to establish a high-speed internet network.

SatNet will launch about 1,300 satellites, or 10% of the planned number, from the first half of 2024 until 2029, according to Chinese media. This is hoped to pave the way for liftoff by 2034 to establish a network supporting high-speed 6G communications.

Top executives of the group come from state-owned, military-industrial complex enterprises linked to China's People's Liberation Army. For example, the chairman is from China Electronics Corp., which is in charge of information technology for military use, while the president is from China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. (CASC), which develops rockets and other items.

Under the leadership of President Xi Jinping, China plans to become a space power comparable with the U.S. by around 2030. It envisions creating its own space station and exploring Mars while launching commercial satellites. The Central Economic Work Conference held in mid-December decided to nurture strategic emerging industries such as the space business, which includes launching commercial satellites.

In 2020, China completed the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System, prodding a large number of Chinese companies to shift to it from the Global Positioning System. African and other nations with close ties to China might also consider utilizing these technologies for military and security purposes, including peacekeeping efforts.

A sense of crisis about China's moves to create StarLink-like systems is emerging in the U.S. and Europe. The German government blocked a space-related company in Shanghai -- a big shareholder in a Berlin-based satellite startup -- from buying shares in it from other holders. U.S. aerospace giant Boeing has cancelled a satellite sales contract with a U.S. startup after it was revealed that a Chinese government-backed entity had invested in the company.

Meanwhile, Shanghai Spacecom Satellite Technology, which is partly owned by the Shanghai municipal government, has a plan to put 12,000 satellites into low Earth orbit. The company said it will launch more than 600 of them by the end of 2025.

GalaxySpace (Beijing) Technology, a private company founded by people from the internet industry, plans to send up 1,000 low-orbit satellites. Visited by Premier Li Qiang in April 2023, GalaxySpace will step up its project to build a satellite constellation with support from the government.

In addition, military-industrial complex enterprises CASC and China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp. are pushing ahead with plans to launch more than 300 and 200 low-orbit satellites, respectively. Chang Guang Satellite Technology, backed by the provincial government of Jilin among others, began sending up low-orbit satellites in 2015 to provide high-definition images to customers. It plans to increase the number of satellites to 138 by 2025.