Researchers in China are apparently developing ways to disable and potentially eliminate SpaceX’s Starlink satellites.
This at least according to a defence paper that was published in the the Modern Defense Technology journal.
The paper argues that China needs to develop anti-satellite technology to deal with the US military threat from Starlink satellites.
The first step is for China to develop a massive surveillance program to track and monitor the Starlink constellation.
Then, the People Liberation Army can develop a range of soft and hard kill methods to deal with the threat if necessary.
In addition to the Starlink constellation. China has concerns about Starlink satellites having US military devices on-board.
For instance, the US Defense Department and SpaceX already have a contract to build novel technologies to attach to Starlink satellites.
However, as pointed out in the report, the issue with Starlink is not a single entity. It is thousands of satellites.
Thus, these Chinese researchers need to figure out whether jamming or burning these satellites has any effect on the broader constellation.
At the end of the day, this is a not direct threat the SpaceX or Starlink.
However, it is interesting that Chinese defence researchers are looking at a civilian satellite constellation and considering its military importance.
