Text/Lin Wenjie
Recently, "StarLink" has become the focus of global attention, and the super-rich Musk launched this space high-speed Internet program, which aims to create a global network that is not limited by ground infrastructure, which means that you can access the Internet anywhere, especially in remote deserts and forests. At the same time, the cost of StarLink is not expensive, and it has become a high-tech technology cloaked in civilian Internet. In February 2018, Musk used the Falcon 9 rocket at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California to launch the first two Starlink experimental communication satellites, kicking off the construction of the Space High-Speed Internet Program. According to the latest report of the People's Liberation Army Daily, as of May, Musk's Starlink plan has reached about 2,400, and in the next few years, it will form a 42,000 Starlink Internet covering the world.
In view of the smooth progress of the Starlink plan, the Starlink plan, which was originally based on civilian use, has also begun to be converted to military use. In 2019, SpaceX received funding from the U.S. Air Force to study how to connect Starlink's communication signals to U.S. military fighter jets, forming another encrypted Internet communication function in addition to military communication satellites. In October 2020, SpaceX received funding to develop a military version of the Starlink Communications Satellite, which in addition to being able to perform conventional civilian communications, can also encrypt military communications functions, which can assist U.S. military satellites to improve communication stability and possibly even provide timely communications for frontline troops.
In the Ukrainian-Russian conflict, the Starlink satellite completed its first actual combat
In the Ukrainian-Russian conflict that broke out in 2022, the Starlink satellite completed the first actual battle, played a powerful communication role, and could also provide high-speed Internet services in the case of the Russian military using GPS jamming machines to attack the strategic communication nodes of the Ukrainian army. Some military experts believe that the Starlink satellite has the ability to transmit data to the drone, use the drone's high-definition camera to shoot pictures of people on the ground, compare with big data, and determine the location of senior Russian military officers.
It can be seen from the Ukrainian-Russian conflict that the Starlink satellite has three major characteristics, first, the Starlink satellite has the actual combat capability, and this Ukrainian-Russian conflict has tested the actual combat capability of the Starlink satellite, proving that the military version of the Starlink communication satellite developed by SpaceX can provide timely communication services for the frontline troops in the actual combat environment. The performance of this actual combat capability says that the Star Chain satellite has extremely strong reliability, and its individual communication terminal can meet the requirements of smooth communication under harsh combat conditions.
Second, starlink satellites are decentralized and cannot all be shot down and jammed. In this Ukrainian-Russian conflict, the Starlink satellite demonstrated its second characteristic, which is the advantage of centralization. There are more than two thousand satellites in the entire starlink cluster in earth's orbit. If the Russian military conducts anti-satellite operations or strikes against these starlink satellites, then more than two thousand starlink satellites cannot be shot down, and the decentralized ability means that the survivability of the starlink satellites is extremely strong. Russia's use of GPS jammers this time can not completely cut off the communication chain of the Ukrainian army, which directly determines that the command system of the Ukrainian army can still operate normally under the attack of the Russian cruise missile. Third, the Starlink satellite has realized multi-purpose capabilities, not only for the communication of the front-line combat platform, but also for the monitoring, reconnaissance, navigation, communication relay and other functions, it can be considered that the Starlink satellite is not only a communication network, but also a multi-purpose platform.
What other secrets do the Starlink satellites have, and why can they become the secret weapons of the US military?
The Starlink satellite has only been developed to this day for a few years and has become a very important communications core of the US Air Force. The United States conducted a comprehensive test of the militarization capability of the Starlink satellites in this Ukrainian-Russian conflict and found that they had great war potential. Next, the Starlink satellite will be continuously upgraded and embedded in the US military communication network to provide communication support for the US military's global operations. Musk did not object to the pace of militarization of the Starlink satellite, because no matter how militarized, it can meet a basic condition, that is, to achieve global Internet communications, but on this basis, the US military has added more modules, making it a military satellite with a civilian foundation, which is a peak of us dual-use technology.
At the same time, Musk can get a large amount of funds from the US Air Force to subsidize the funds needed for research and development and launch of Starlink satellites, for Musk, the militarization of Starlink satellites can meet the needs of the development of its constellation, and it is also the next development direction. Overall, the Starlink satellite has two potential militarization capabilities that make it a secret weapon for the U.S. military.
The first militarization capability is as a low-cost, high-precision and almost uninterrupted alternative to GPS, which is the conclusion of the U.S. Army, the University of Texas at Austin Radio Navigation Laboratory participated in the study, found that the original 30 satellite navigation satellite constellation, the signal is very weak when it reaches the Earth, easy to be accidentally interfered with and deceived, the U.S. military relies heavily on GPS signals, but can not find a suitable alternative.
Starlink satellite is characterized by low orbital height, lower than the orbital height of GPS satellites, at this distance, its signal strength is much stronger than GPS, the United States conducted a test in the 1960s, the use of satellites with an orbital altitude of 1100 km to provide position information for naval ships and submarines, found that the advantage of low-orbit communication satellites is that the signal can be a thousand times stronger than GPS, the disadvantage is that the coverage of each satellite is very small, can only provide communication and positioning signals for a small area below the orbit. This means that hundreds or even thousands of satellites are needed to cover the world, and now Musk has solved this problem, using low-cost satellite technology, developing a huge satellite communication network, deploying tens of thousands of satellites in orbit is not a problem, the US military uses low-orbit satellite communication technology, which can turn it into a low-cost, very high-precision, and undisturbed communication network, which is the first militarization potential of Starlink satellites.
The second militarization potential of starlink satellites is anti-satellite and anti-missile capabilities. The number of Starlink satellites is huge, which can be used as an offensive and defensive platform for space operations. In the field of anti-satellites, starlink satellites have the characteristics of large base, strong in-orbit mobility capabilities, and strong space countermeasure capabilities, and the US military can use starlink satellites to protect its own high-value satellites and launch suicide attacks on key enemy satellites. With more than 40,000 satellites in orbit, it has a huge advantage in anti-satellites, and the use of direct collisions can offset most of the opponent's satellites. At the same time, the Starlink satellite also has the potential for anti-missile use. Tens of thousands of star-chain satellites form layers of anti-missile networks in space, combined with their maneuverability in orbit, which can be coordinated with land-based missile defense systems to locate incoming hypersonic warheads and intercontinental ballistic missile warheads and intercept these targets.
The anti-hypersonic constellation envisaged by the US military is precisely a large constellation of satellites in low orbit, so the star chain can achieve this effect, enhancing the US military's ability to counter the missiles of potential opponents such as China and Russia. The rapid expansion of the militarized application of the Starlink satellite deserves the high vigilance of the international community and will become a secret weapon of the US military cloaked in civilian Internet.