China develops attack plan for Elon Musk’s Starlink-like satellites

China’s People’s Liberation Army has deployed its submarine with a laser weapon installed in its midsection to counter military threats to Beijing, including Elon Musk’s Starlink, which covers space above Earth with its satellites.

According to the South China Morning Post, China may destroy SpaceX’s Starlink satellites if China’s security is at risk.

A People’s Liberation Army (PLA) study led by Wang Dan, a professor at the Navy’s Submarine Academy, says the biggest challenge in anti-satellite missions is not hitting the satellite but concealing the attack, as missile launches are often accompanied by long plumes of smoke.

“Take the satellites launched under the Starlink program, for example: They are numerous, close together and small, making the satellite network extremely resilient. Even if a significant number of satellites are destroyed, there are redundancies to replace them. Therefore, using missiles to attack such satellites is highly inefficient,” Wang’s team said in a peer-reviewed paper published last month in the Chinese-language journal Command Control & Simulation.

“Submarine-based laser weapons can solve these problems”

The document contains detailed step-by-step instructions for attacking Starlink-like satellites at sea.

“First, one or more submarines equipped with laser weapons are sent to the sea area where the operation is to be carried out. They enter the target sea area according to the instructions of the command and wait until the satellites come within their attack range. The time to deploy the laser weapon is determined based on the previously recorded satellite flight time,” they write.

“When the satellite comes within attack range, the laser weapon is raised. Due to the limitations of the submarine’s tracking devices, other forces are required to provide the submarine with satellite position guidance so that it can attack the satellite. After the attack is completed, the submarine can submerge and wait for the next mission or return to home port,” it said.

According to a Reuters report, Tesla CEO Elon Musk visited China in April and asked Beijing for permission to introduce fully self-driving (FSD) software in China and transfer the associated data abroad.

Although China is working with the Tesla boss, it sees his company SpaceX as a threat.

According to official figures released this month, China has more than 900 satellites in orbit. The US has seven times as many, most of which are part of Starlink.

In 2021, two Starlink satellites came dangerously close to the Chinese space station, prompting astronauts to initiate an emergency evacuation. The incident convinced Beijing that the US could use these cheap satellites to attack China’s expensive space resources.

The Starlink satellites are primarily for communications purposes, but the recent success of SpaceX’s Starship rocket test flight has sparked speculation among Chinese military analysts, who suspect that future Starlink versions could potentially carry additional payloads for military functions such as reconnaissance and electronic warfare. Concerns are further fueled by the Starshield initiative, a collaboration between the Pentagon and SpaceX to monitor Chinese hypersonic weapons.

The advancement of laser weapons presents significant technological challenges, including energy storage and optical precision. Despite these hurdles, China has accelerated its research efforts and made notable breakthroughs, especially since the deployment of Starlink in the Ukraine conflict.

Recent innovations include robust propulsion systems that support dense launches, compact yet powerful solid-state lasers, and advanced fiber optic technology that enables high-quality power transmission of over 10,000 watts. Researchers have also explored applications such as creating air bubbles on the surface of submarines to reduce drag and generating silent shock waves for propulsion.

According to research by Chinese scientists, submarines equipped with laser weapons could be used for a wide range of missions, from anti-satellite defense to escorting merchant ships to strategic attacks on land-based targets such as radar sites and oil storage facilities. They estimate that even a modest 150-kilowatt submarine laser could disable the detection systems of anti-submarine aircraft within seconds at a range of more than 20 kilometers.

Strategic missile submarines, critical to nuclear deterrence, are vulnerable to air threats. Submarines equipped with laser weapons could protect these assets by jamming or disabling satellite surveillance systems, thereby concealing missile launches during nuclear counterattack missions.

In addition, submarines offer advantages over surface warships in escorting merchant vessels because of their stealth and endurance capabilities, as well as autonomous navigation capabilities. Equipped with laser weapons, they could defend merchant vessels against air threats and attack enemy surface vessels with anti-ship missiles and torpedoes, SCMP said in its report.

In addition, submarines could be used to disrupt enemy ports and attack oil storage facilities and critical infrastructure. Such actions could potentially damage the enemy’s economy and public support for the war effort, thereby affecting the duration and outcome of conflicts.