Shannon Vaughn
China’s growing dominance in space-based infrastructure is not just a commercial development—it is a calculated geopolitical move. With the full deployment of the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (北斗卫星导航系统), Beijing has created a viable alternative to the US Global Positioning System (GPS), and now it is aggressively expanding its reach into satellite internet services. On February 11, 2025, China launched a new batch of satellites for its planned 15,000+ satellite LEO constellation, aiming to provide global internet services and positioning, navigation, and timing data worldwide, challenging Western dominance in space-based communications.
However, this is far more than just an alternative to Western-backed services like Starlink and Viasat. China’s LEO satellite internet presents a threefold risk:
- It enables China to replace US military GPS reliance worldwide, weakening US strategic advantages.
- It provides a censorship-controlled internet model that authoritarian regimes can adopt, extending Beijing’s influence over global information flows.
- It allows China to dictate international technology standards through bodies like the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), creating long-term dependencies on Chinese space infrastructure.
No comments:
Post a Comment