China has deployed its first batch of satellites in a bid to compete with SpaceX’s Starlink communications mega-constellation.
As SpaceNews reported, China has effectively introduced the first 18 of its first satellites for its Qianfan or “Thousand Sails” mega-constellation, which were deployed into low-Earth orbit via a Long March 6A rocket on Aug. 6.
Announced on social media via China Aeroarea Science and Technology Corporation, the successful launch is the first step in this year’s operations for the Long Sails project. The local firm expects to launch more than a hundred communications satellites this year, about 1,300 at the first level of the mission, and about 14,000.
While that final figure is more than double the 6,200 or so SpaceXs that are in orbit lately, it’s still dwarfed by the 42,000 Elon Musk expects to deploy. Perhaps that’s why the other call for the task is the “G60 Starlink Plan,” which sounds a bit ridiculous.
Like Starlink, China aims to supply the web globally with its satellite communications project, although it is not yet clear whether the service it supplies will be crippled by the same type of censorship that Chinese web users are forced to face. .
The allocation of the satellite owned by Musk is the cause of some anger in China.
As Reuters notes, an editorial published through a media outlet affiliated with the country’s People’s Liberation Army described Starlink as a “serious risk to the security of the countries’ area assets. “After reading Starlink in depth, Chinese military officials have warned that the country may simply respond by creating its own constellation of satellites.
The precise military functions that the Thousand Sails project aims to provide have yet to be noticed, even considering how Starlink was used for communications at various times across Russia and Ukraine during the invasion of the former Eastern bloc state through the former country. It is not difficult to believe what is going through the mind of the Chinese military.
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