China has announced plans to oversee and construct a megaconstellation - used for sending satellite internet services - made up of a little under 13,000 satellites through a coordinated effort involving many of the country's key space players.
Satellites are used to project networks across the globe; pictured is an artists' rendition of a global satellite internet network. Credit: ESA
Plans for this have been publicly known since at least October 2020, when analysts predicted the Chinese state would move to create a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) constellation to compete with major western rivals such as Amazon, OneWeb and SpaceX.
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Recent comments by Chinese state officials suggest it may already make use of existing satellite infrastructure, potentially forming part of the larger "Guoweng" network, part of its idea for a national internet network.
These have come as a boost to previous plans for similar networks made last year.
SpaceNews reported on April 21 that spectrum filings were submitted to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) by China in September last year.
The filings show as many as 12,992 satellites will make up the constellation, although there are fears this would only serve China's interest by operating state-run media and intranet outlets.
These would lie - as the name LEO suggests - in low orbit, anywhere between 500 and 1500 km and would operate under a number of frequency bands.
In a March 7 interview with Shanghai Securities News, Bao Weimin, a senior official with the state-owned China Aerospace Science and Technology
Bao Weimin. Credit: SASAC
Corp. (CASC) revealed it had already launched some test satellites.
“We are planning and developing space Internet satellites and have launched test satellites," he said. "A 'State Grid' company will also be established to be responsible for the overall planning and operation of space Internet construction."
Washington DC-based analyst Bhavya Lal surmised that out of the 20 or so Chinese companies engaged in satellite technologies, fewer than a dozen had proposed the use of constellation at the time the filings were submitted.
“Many focus on narrowband communications, targeting markets such as the Internet of Things (IoT)," he said in a statement released in October 2020, adding that many of the state-owned outlets "[had] the deeper pockets needed to rapidly launch satellite constellations."
She concluded that many of the private companies lacked the required hardware to launch.
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She said: “However, as in other areas, the Chinese are making fast progress. The best we can tell the current focus of most companies is domestic. But as the Chinese have done in other areas such as high-speed rail, it would be not a stretch of the imagination that once the bugs in the system are worked out domestically, the Chinese will begin to market services internationally.”
It is currently unknown if any of this has changed in the six months since it broke.
In mid-April Ge Yujung, the president of China Spacesat, another key player, revealed the previously planned satellite clusters would be altered to fit a new plan, saying the Hongyan and Hongyun systems would "undergo major changes" by "relevant government authorities."
He also revealed plans for the constellations have been in development since at least 2018 and that CASC was planning to launch at least 60 satellites by 2022.
It is currently unclear how the project will proceed, but news reports indicate it has become a national priority.
SpaceX's global satellite network was completed in early April, and the network is now active. It is likely China has issued this as a national priority in order to compete with western rivals.
OneWeb's system was also completed on April 26, with its last satellite launch taking place on that date.
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Amazon has similarly ordered Atlas 5 expeditions for its Kuiper broadband satellites, with its estimated date of completion being unknown.
Similarly, there have been concerns among Western countries that the megaconstellation will allow China to exert geopolitical influence outside of its usual sphere.
Chinese citizens face heavy censorship by its authoritarian government. Access to outside internet is strictly monitored or outright prohibited, which has led to the state setting up a national intranet to restrict and monitor what the public has access to.
The new network could allow it to exert more pressure and state-run propaganda on other nations in East Asia or even further afield.
The state has already approved a five-year plan for 2021-2026 and "long-range goals" for up to 2035, which includes launching new satellite networks, covering areas such as Earth observation and navigation.
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