- A joint Insider/Der Spiegel/Le Monde investigation published leaked documents showing a three-tier plan by Chinese authors to contain and defeat Starlink.
- The plan, presented to Russian officials at a secret forum in 2023, outlines a three-tiered approach to containing and destroying SpaceX’s Starlink.
- A Moscow protocol signed separately in June 2023 also commits Russia and China to jointly building a hypersonic missile defense system based on technology that Russia has never before been willing to share, even with its allies.
Starlink is the world’s largest satellite constellation ever built and, as a result, also serves as the backbone of many civil and military communications channels.
With approximately 10,400 satellites in low-Earth orbit as of June 2026, SpaceX’s low-Earth orbit satellite Internet network covers nearly 160 different countries and territories while offering low-latency communications (20-40 milliseconds) that often make it a better option than GEO systems that have a built-in round-trip delay of 500-700 milliseconds.
Its potential for military use was, until recently, downplayed by many in the industry, but it has formed the communications backbone for Ukraine in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, earning it the ire of the Russian government and renewed focus from China, which has already begun covertly preparing for an eventuality in which it would have to disable the network.
A secret meeting that highlighted growing Chinese-Russian military cooperation
With China claiming its “unlimited” partnership with Russia still in play as early as 2025, a year-long investigation led by The informantGermany The mirrorand France the world indicates that both actors may have already considerably expanded their reach beyond what was previously visible, especially with regard to their respective military ambitions.
Starlink, which the Russians see as a key obstacle to their Ukraine campaign, forms the backbone of the latter’s communications even as the former are cut off from access as the conflict continues to evolve in what is now the fifth year of fighting.
For China, it represents a growing threat, underscored by the US military’s growing dependence on SpaceX, which is not only the Pentagon’s largest space contractor but also helps the US government deploy and service its military-grade version of Starlink: Starshield.
Chinese military officers and engineers met with Russian officials in November 2023 at a summit in Guangzhou to discuss how to approach Starlink, presenting a three-pronged action plan: diplomatic pressure, interference, then cyberattacks and, alternatively, physical destruction.
Both China and Russia would not only attempt to leverage their considerable clout in diplomatic forums to hinder Starlink’s growth by imposing regulatory pressures, but would also invest in electromagnetic interference infrastructure to disable existing satellites in certain geographic areas, even as they collaborate within each other’s ecosystems.
Perhaps more concerning for Elon Musk and SpaceX would be the cyber and physical warfare component, where plans to take advantage of “access spoofing, virus infection, and vulnerability exploitation” are combined with plans to completely “eliminate” satellites already in orbit.
Given that these plans were first discussed in 2023, it can be assumed that they have evolved considerably since then, even as drone warfare, laser weaponry and anti-satellite missiles have made significant progress, while modern militaries prepare for asymmetric warfare in future conflicts.
For example, Chinese researchers at the Northwest Institute of Nuclear Technology in Xi’an have reportedly built a ground-based microwave weapon capable of targeting low-orbit satellites, according to local media reports.
Given that China and Russia have also agreed to deploy an air defense solution as part of the “Working Protocol” signed in Moscow, which is expected to eclipse existing capabilities including Russia’s S-500, the revelations indicate that China is not passively but rather actively supporting Russia in its ongoing efforts.
This makes it a complicated issue for Elon Musk and a White House behind him to address: the former has taken a conciliatory stance toward China even as Tesla relies on the market for its sales, hosts its largest and most efficient plant, and has previously resulted in favorable leasing terms and loans at stake from the Chinese government, while the latter could tip its hand based on “national security” concerns that could create an awkward situation much like the one that unfolded for Nvidia after Beijing intervened.
Starlink could be an important piece of the pie for both the US government and Elon Musk, but as a result, the response of both to Chinese plans for the service could differ considerably, given what is at stake for both entities.
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