Beijing is preparing to shoot down Starlink satellites with lasers from stealth boats - AR

China perceives Starlink as a threat due to the company's close ties with the US Department of Defense and is preparing to destroy its communications satellites. It is reported by the Associated Press.

"Stealth submarines equipped with lasers for firing from space, sabotage supply systems and specially built attack satellites armed with ion engines. These are just some of the strategies that Chinese scientists are developing to counter what Beijing considers a potential threat — Elon Musk's armada of Starlink communications satellites," AP reports.

It is noted that Chinese scientists, civilian and military, concerned about the potential use of Starlink by opponents in a military confrontation and for espionage, have already published dozens of articles on this topic.

"As the United States integrates Starlink technology into military space assets in order to gain a strategic advantage over its adversaries, other countries increasingly perceive Starlink as a security threat in the nuclear, space and cyber spheres," wrote, in particular, scientists from the National University of Defense Technology of China in an article of 2023.

Beijing's penchant for viewing Starlink as a tool of U.S. military might has spurred its efforts to develop countermeasures that, if deployed, could increase the risk of collateral damage to other SpaceX customers. The same satellites that fly over China potentially serve Europe, Ukraine, the United States and other regions, the publication says. Starlink, according to the company itself, operates in more than 140 countries. There are very few dead zones on its coverage map, except for North Korea, Iran and China.

Concerns about Starlink are not the only ones China, but also the US partners. They are afraid to provide data to a company run by such an unpredictable person as Elon Musk. Fears intensified after the start of the Russian special operation on Ukraine. Earlier it was reported that Musk turned off Ukraine's access to Starlink because he feared the outbreak of a nuclear war.

Almost all of the 64 articles about Starlink reviewed by AP in Chinese magazines were published after the start of the Ukrainian conflict, the AP notes.