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On August 6, my country's first batch of 18 low-orbit Internet satellites were launched into space, marking the beginning of the construction of my country's low-orbit satellite Internet constellation. In the future, the satellite constellation will consist of more than 12,000 satellites, providing communication services such as direct mobile phone connections.

This satellite constellation is similar to Musk’s SpaceX Starlink and is called the “Chinese version of Starlink”.

The first time everyone heard about Starlink was when Musk's SpaceX proposed a broadband Internet giant constellation plan in 2015, which said it would launch at least 12,000 low-orbit satellites. This scared everyone at the time because since the Soviet Union launched the first satellite to humans in 1957, the total number of satellites launched by all countries in the world has been no more than 2,000.

But in the second year, SpaceX launched 600 satellites. By 2020, SpaceX directly changed the Starlink satellite plan to 42,000.

In fact, from the conception point of view, building a low-orbit giant constellation for communication, reconnaissance, surveillance and other applications is not new. It was proposed decades ago. However, at that time, neither satellite technology nor rocket technology could support this concept. Do you know how expensive it is to launch a satellite? Do you know how expensive it is to launch a satellite?

But in this era, electronic technology is highly developed. Satellites from decades ago are completely incomparable to today's satellites. Who would have thought that you could make satellite calls with a mobile phone? You can also upload and download files at high speed. Satellites can be made so small. At the same time, rocket launch technology and costs have been greatly reduced. Especially after the emergence of reusable rockets, dozens of satellites can be "scattered" at a time. In the future, giant rockets can also launch hundreds of satellites at a time. The conditions for building a giant constellation are ripe.

As we all know, Starlink can provide broadband Internet services around the world without blind spots. Its importance is immediately reflected in areas without ground communication infrastructure, or areas damaged by natural disasters, wars, etc. For example, during the Russia-Ukraine conflict, a large part of the Ukrainian army's communications relied on Starlink satellites. The scattered Ukrainian army's various troops and weapon systems can be connected through Starlink, which is particularly important to the Ukrainian army and is called "satellite technology that changes the rules of war."

However, the Russian military has very few means to interfere with and counter Starlink satellites, and it is impossible to destroy Starlink satellites. There are already 6,000 networking satellites, and more can be launched at any time. The Russian military can only use small-area interference and reconnaissance to destroy the Starlink ground terminals carried by the Ukrainian army, which has very limited effect.

This has fully demonstrated the great advantage of the Starlink satellite constellation - it is almost impossible to be destroyed, but it can provide services at all times. Traditional anti-satellite technology has lost its effect. The US military and intelligence agencies have long been eyeing this advantage of Starlink and are developing the StarShield constellation based on Starlink. That is, various mission modules are carried on the Starlink satellites, so that they have not only communication functions, but also image reconnaissance, electronic signal monitoring, intercontinental missile early warning and other functions. It can be said that the functions of the original large reconnaissance satellites and missile early warning satellites of the US military and intelligence agencies are split onto these tens of thousands of StarShield satellites. Since these satellites can conduct laser communication between stars, these satellites can not only relay reconnaissance, but also transmit in real time.

For example, when conducting reconnaissance in a certain area, there used to be a concept of satellite revisit cycles. Before the satellite came, it was possible to avoid being detected by camouflaging. However, satellite constellations have completely overturned this concept, because satellites are constantly passing overhead. As for early warning of intercontinental missiles, everything from launch to flight routes is monitored by these satellites. It is also entirely conceivable that Star Shield could develop a suicide interceptor satellite.

At present, the best response is that if you have it, I have it too. If you can communicate, I can do it. If you can conduct reconnaissance, I can do it. If you can track and monitor, I can do it too. Therefore, many countries have proposed plans to build low-orbit satellite constellations. However, orbital resources and frequencies are limited. The International Telecommunication Union stated that the total capacity of low-orbit satellites is 60,000, and the number of satellites reported by various countries has exceeded 70,000. According to the principle of first come first served, it actually depends on the launch capabilities of each country.

There is a very good saying that the difference between a truly powerful country and an ordinary country in the future is the difference in space capabilities. Without strong space capabilities, we can only be controlled by others. Therefore, my country must develop its own Starlink and continue to strengthen its space capabilities.

Kankan News Reporter: Li Suning

Editor: Li Suning

Video Editor: Zhao Xin, Chen Junyang (Intern)

Editor: Fang Liang