Chinese Scholars Petition to Kill Elon Musk's Starlink

A group of five researchers from the Beijing Institute of Telecommunications Technology, China, called on China to develop weapons to take down billionaire Elon Musk's satellite internet connection network because they believe Starlink could be used by the US military. This call was published in the magazine Modern Defense Technology.

The team believes that Statlink has 'huge potential for military applications' and could pose a threat to China's national security. Therefore, China needs to 'vigorously develop countermeasures' and prepare to 'use a combination of soft and hard kill technologies' against billionaire Elon Musk's satellite internet network.

The article concludes that the 'space game' is getting more and more fierce, so China needs to handle the Starlink system to 'maintain and gain an advantage.

Starlink is Elon Musk's global high-speed wireless Internet project using nearly 12,000 satellites in space. These Internet satellites fly in low Earth orbit and connect to ground stations to provide Internet connection services to the most remote and rugged areas.

In late February, Elon Musk deployed satellite internet in Ukraine when the country's traditional mobile network was destroyed in the conflict with Russia. After the American billionaire's move, Dmitry Rogozin, director of Russia's Roscosmos space agency, said Musk's move made Starlink no longer a 'purely civilian' technology.

Marvin Fry

Update 10 July 2025