China launches 18 satellites to rival SpaceX and Starlink

The Long March 6A carrier rocket launched 18 communication satellites into low Earth orbit, part of the Qianfan Xingzuo project, also known as the "Thousand Sails Constellation." This project is China's response to Starlink, the system developed by the American company SpaceX.

The Long March 6A rocket launched satellites from the Shanghai Spacecom Satellite Technology (SSST) company into orbit from the Taiyuan spaceport in Shanxi Province in eastern China.

The "Thousand Sails Constellation" project, also called "G60Star Link," began by placing 18 satellites in orbit. The goal is to provide broadband internet access.

SSST, a startup in the space technology sector, received support from Shanghai municipal authorities and raised 6.7 billion Yuan (approximately 940 million USD) for this purpose, including funds from private investors.

According to the plan, 108 satellites will be launched this year, and by the end of 2025, their number should increase to 648. The Chinese team responsible for the project aims to achieve "global internet access" by 2027. By 2030, 15,000 of their satellites are expected to be in low Earth orbit.

Currently, there are more than 6,200 Starlink satellites from SpaceX in near-Earth space. Elon Musk, the owner of the company, plans to place a total of 42,000 such devices.

The competition between the United States and China in space is not solely commercial. Chinese scientists from the People's Liberation Army (PLA) have been studying the use of the Starlink system during the war in Ukraine for the past two years. They have repeatedly warned about the risks it could pose in a military conflict between China and the USA.

In January, the newspaper "Jiefangjun Bao," an official PLA medium, stated that the "high density" of Starlink satellites poses a serious threat to the security of many countries' space resources and affects the functioning of satellites belonging to other nations.

In June, the Hong Kong newspaper South China Morning Post reported that the PLA is developing plans to disable or destroy Starlink satellites if they threaten China's national security.

The "G60Star Link" project is one of three similar initiatives being implemented by China under the common name "Ten Thousand Stars Constellation." The other two initiatives involve launching 13,000 satellites by the state-owned China Satellite Network Group and 10,000 satellites by the commercial firm Landray Hongqing.