China is convinced that the devices could be a threat to national security.
Chinese military researchers called for the development of weapons “hard Defeat “, which will be able to destroy the Starlink satellite system Ilona Maska. They believe the satellite group could be a threat to the nation's national security, according to Live Science.
Read also: Elon Musk responded to Rogozin's threats through Starlink deliveries to Ukraine
Starlink is a broadband satellite Internet network developed by Mask SpaceX, which aims to provide Internet access to customers anywhere in the world. Since the launch of Starlink's first satellites in 2019, SpaceX has launched more than 2,300 into low Earth orbit, and the company plans to send up to 42,000 satellites into space to form a giant constellation.
Chinese scientists are concerned about the military potential of the group, which they believe could be used to track hypersonic missiles. In addition, the satellites could increase the data transfer rate of American drones and invisible aircraft, as well as crash into Chinese devices, disabling them.
China has already complained about Starlink satellites. Last year, the country sent a letter to the UN stating that the Chinese space station had been forced to maneuver to avoid collisions with the spacecraft.
“It is necessary to use a combination of soft and hard methods of destruction, so that some Starlink satellites lose their functions and destroy the operating system of the constellation,” said a team of researchers led by Zhen Yuanzhen, a researcher at the Beijing Institute of Surveillance and Telecommunications.
China already has tools that can be used to turn off satellites. These include microwave mufflers, which can disrupt communication or ignite electrical components; powerful millimeter-resolution lasers that can capture images and dazzle satellite sensors; cyber weapons for hacking satellite networks; and long-range anti-satellite missiles (ASAT) for their destruction. But researchers believe that these measures are not enough, because Starlink is a decentralized system.
What exactly the researchers suggest to take is still unclear. At the same time, they are proposing that China build its own spy satellite system to help track Starlink, find new and improved ways to hack systems, and develop more effective ways to disable satellites. This could potentially mean the deployment of lasers, microwave weapons or smaller satellites that could be used to capture Starlink satellites. Specialists are able to effectively repel the attacks.
The first batch of Starlink stations arrived in Ukraine in response to a request from Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Digital Transformation Mikhail Fedorov. After the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Elon Musk activated the Starlink Internet over our country for the first time.
Mask's Starlink system helps the Ukrainian army track and destroy the occupiers . Satellite communications are widely used in the military to communicate in hard-to-reach places – Starlink has greatly improved the process.
