New Delhi: China is intensifying efforts to provide a Starlink competitor after SpaceX hit a major note via the Super Heavy booster landing earlier this week, on October 13. Chinese state media quickly retaliated by focusing on China’s accomplishments in satellite launch, including the development of satellite constellations similar to the Starlink project.
Currently, three major Chinese firms are vying to catch up with Starlink’s progress, which has already placed 6,426 satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO) and plans to deploy 42,000 in total:
- China Satellite Network Group Co. runs the GW plan, which includes the deployment of 13,000 satellites.
- Shanghai Weixiao Satellite Engineering Centre: operates the G60/Qianfan plan for the deployment of 12,000 satellites by 2027.
- Shanghai Lanjian Hongqing Technology Co.: Starting the Hungtu-3 project to launch 10,000 satellites to LEO in partnership with private company LandSpace.
Media Backlash and Response
After SpaceX’s victory, global media turned to China to ask how the country could compete with Musk’s breakthroughs. In response, China Central TV’s Lei Xiangping and others defended the nation’s space endeavours. Lei insisted that China needed to ramp up the use of satellites; he stressed that once Starlink implements its strategy, other countries can have scarce access to space orbits. He also said that Beijing plans to place over 15,000 satellites into orbit by 2030.
Nonetheless, China managed to mark a series of similar missions just over the successes of SpaceX with the similar launches of the Qianfan network and the Gaofen-12 05 remote sensing satellite.
The Qianfan plan is especially important for China’s People’s Liberation Army to provide a global strategy of military monitoring with high resolution. When explaining why the control of LEO is so important, Lei Xiangping said that it is a new front that is closely connected with technologies since the use of technologies will be decisive.
Delayed Super-Heavy Boosters
Other experts from China, such as technology writer Gao Tianwei, sing the same tune that China has no reason to rush the development of its own super-heavy booster, Long March 9, which is planned to be in production by 2033. However, the country is concentrating on saturated ‘Greenfield’ and reusable ‘Brownfield’ rockets.
State media have also underscored China’s growing reusable rocket players like LandSpace’s Zhuque-3, a recent failure, and Jiangsu Deep Blue Aerospace’s Nebula-1. These indicate China’s preparation and the plan to deepen space technology, despite the absence of similar success as SpaceX’s Starship.
