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- China's Qianfan Project: A Potential Challenger to SpaceX's Starlink Satellite Service
China's Qianfan Project: A Potential Challenger to SpaceX's Starlink Satellite Service
China's Qianfan project is positioning itself as a strong competitor to Elon Musk's Starlink satellite service with ambitious plans to launch 15,000 satellites. The project, along with Guawan and Honhu-3, reflects China's growing investment in satellite systems to rival SpaceX's success in providing global internet from space.
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Video Transcript
In early December, China launched its third batch of low-Earth orbit, or LEO Internet
satellites, for a constellation called Qianfan, or Thousand Sails as it's also known.
The project aims to rival SpaceX's Starlink and will be made up of 15,000 satellites.
You're seeing just the very beginnings of China's bid to do something that would be
competitive with Starlink.
Another project, Guawan, has plans to put in place 13,000 satellites.
A third Chinese project aimed at providing global satellite internet from space is Honhu-3, which would be made up of 10,000 satellites.
It has yet to launch any of them.
them into space.
There has been a marked increase in the amount of investment into
satellite systems in China, really starting from the beginning of
2021.
This investment comes at the heels of Starlink's massive success and
the opportunity to fill in some of the gaps in Starlink's service.
Not the whole world is yet connected by Starlink.
There's still a couple of blind spots, so to speak, partly because
countries do not want to participate and give Starlink to its
inhabitants, especially if we're thinking about the free and
independent Internet that's done and gives access to.
We can definitely see how actors like Russia or China might not want that.
So there's definitely still space for another actor or another provider to come in
specifically with those needs in mind.
Although China leads the world with the highest number of Internet users, the
country also has the second highest unconnected population in the world after
India. In terms of China's broader plan for rivaling the U.S., I would say as a
science and technology power, they view space as an emerging technological
frontier, one where the projection of power will be incredibly important, and you can
see the money that they're already investing in other aspects of their space program.
So for example, recently they landed a probe for the first time on the far side of the
moon and brought back soil samples.
They have a goal to land astronauts on the moon by 2030 and to even potentially establish
a lunar base in the south pole of the moon by 2035.
So clearly they take seriously the geopolitical implications of being able to rival the U.S. when it comes to space.
Catching up to Starlink will be a tall order for China.
Meant to offer high-speed internet to customers in remote and underserved areas,
Starlink already has new
nearly 7,000 operational satellites in orbit
and serves around 5 million customers
in over 100 countries, according to SpaceX.
SpaceX hopes to eventually expand its megaconstellation
to as many as 42,000 satellites.
China's aiming for a similar scale.
Between Guowang, Tianfan, and Hongwu-3,
China hopes to eventually have
around 38,000 satellites zooming around the planet.
Development of these projects
is closely linked with the Chinese government,
Though China has been increasingly opening its space projects to the private sector.
Guowang, which is a fully state-backed, 100% state-owned enterprise constellation, the
operating company for Guowang, China Satellite Networks Limited, it was established about
Video Summary & Chapters
No chapters for this video generated yet.
Video Transcript
In early December, China launched its third batch of low-Earth orbit, or LEO Internet
satellites, for a constellation called Qianfan, or Thousand Sails as it's also known.
The project aims to rival SpaceX's Starlink and will be made up of 15,000 satellites.
You're seeing just the very beginnings of China's bid to do something that would be
competitive with Starlink.
Another project, Guawan, has plans to put in place 13,000 satellites.
A third Chinese project aimed at providing global satellite internet from space is Honhu-3, which would be made up of 10,000 satellites.
It has yet to launch any of them.
them into space.
There has been a marked increase in the amount of investment into
satellite systems in China, really starting from the beginning of
2021.
This investment comes at the heels of Starlink's massive success and
the opportunity to fill in some of the gaps in Starlink's service.
Not the whole world is yet connected by Starlink.
There's still a couple of blind spots, so to speak, partly because
countries do not want to participate and give Starlink to its
inhabitants, especially if we're thinking about the free and
independent Internet that's done and gives access to.
We can definitely see how actors like Russia or China might not want that.
So there's definitely still space for another actor or another provider to come in
specifically with those needs in mind.
Although China leads the world with the highest number of Internet users, the
country also has the second highest unconnected population in the world after
India. In terms of China's broader plan for rivaling the U.S., I would say as a
science and technology power, they view space as an emerging technological
frontier, one where the projection of power will be incredibly important, and you can
see the money that they're already investing in other aspects of their space program.
So for example, recently they landed a probe for the first time on the far side of the
moon and brought back soil samples.
They have a goal to land astronauts on the moon by 2030 and to even potentially establish
a lunar base in the south pole of the moon by 2035.
So clearly they take seriously the geopolitical implications of being able to rival the U.S. when it comes to space.
Catching up to Starlink will be a tall order for China.
Meant to offer high-speed internet to customers in remote and underserved areas,
Starlink already has new
nearly 7,000 operational satellites in orbit
and serves around 5 million customers
in over 100 countries, according to SpaceX.
SpaceX hopes to eventually expand its megaconstellation
to as many as 42,000 satellites.
China's aiming for a similar scale.
Between Guowang, Tianfan, and Hongwu-3,
China hopes to eventually have
around 38,000 satellites zooming around the planet.
Development of these projects
is closely linked with the Chinese government,
Though China has been increasingly opening its space projects to the private sector.
Guowang, which is a fully state-backed, 100% state-owned enterprise constellation, the
operating company for Guowang, China Satellite Networks Limited, it was established about
Video Summary & Chapters
No chapters for this video generated yet.
Video Transcript
In early December, China launched its third batch of low-Earth orbit, or LEO Internet
satellites, for a constellation called Qianfan, or Thousand Sails as it's also known.
The project aims to rival SpaceX's Starlink and will be made up of 15,000 satellites.
You're seeing just the very beginnings of China's bid to do something that would be
competitive with Starlink.
Another project, Guawan, has plans to put in place 13,000 satellites.
A third Chinese project aimed at providing global satellite internet from space is Honhu-3, which would be made up of 10,000 satellites.
It has yet to launch any of them.
them into space.
There has been a marked increase in the amount of investment into
satellite systems in China, really starting from the beginning of
2021.
This investment comes at the heels of Starlink's massive success and
the opportunity to fill in some of the gaps in Starlink's service.
Not the whole world is yet connected by Starlink.
There's still a couple of blind spots, so to speak, partly because
countries do not want to participate and give Starlink to its
inhabitants, especially if we're thinking about the free and
independent Internet that's done and gives access to.
We can definitely see how actors like Russia or China might not want that.
So there's definitely still space for another actor or another provider to come in
specifically with those needs in mind.
Although China leads the world with the highest number of Internet users, the
country also has the second highest unconnected population in the world after
India. In terms of China's broader plan for rivaling the U.S., I would say as a
science and technology power, they view space as an emerging technological
frontier, one where the projection of power will be incredibly important, and you can
see the money that they're already investing in other aspects of their space program.
So for example, recently they landed a probe for the first time on the far side of the
moon and brought back soil samples.
They have a goal to land astronauts on the moon by 2030 and to even potentially establish
a lunar base in the south pole of the moon by 2035.
So clearly they take seriously the geopolitical implications of being able to rival the U.S. when it comes to space.
Catching up to Starlink will be a tall order for China.
Meant to offer high-speed internet to customers in remote and underserved areas,
Starlink already has new
nearly 7,000 operational satellites in orbit
and serves around 5 million customers
in over 100 countries, according to SpaceX.
SpaceX hopes to eventually expand its megaconstellation
to as many as 42,000 satellites.
China's aiming for a similar scale.
Between Guowang, Tianfan, and Hongwu-3,
China hopes to eventually have
around 38,000 satellites zooming around the planet.
Development of these projects
is closely linked with the Chinese government,
Though China has been increasingly opening its space projects to the private sector.
Guowang, which is a fully state-backed, 100% state-owned enterprise constellation, the
operating company for Guowang, China Satellite Networks Limited, it was established about
Video Summary & Chapters
No chapters for this video generated yet.
Video Transcript
In early December, China launched its third batch of low-Earth orbit, or LEO Internet
satellites, for a constellation called Qianfan, or Thousand Sails as it's also known.
The project aims to rival SpaceX's Starlink and will be made up of 15,000 satellites.
You're seeing just the very beginnings of China's bid to do something that would be
competitive with Starlink.
Another project, Guawan, has plans to put in place 13,000 satellites.
A third Chinese project aimed at providing global satellite internet from space is Honhu-3, which would be made up of 10,000 satellites.
It has yet to launch any of them.
them into space.
There has been a marked increase in the amount of investment into
satellite systems in China, really starting from the beginning of
2021.
This investment comes at the heels of Starlink's massive success and
the opportunity to fill in some of the gaps in Starlink's service.
Not the whole world is yet connected by Starlink.
There's still a couple of blind spots, so to speak, partly because
countries do not want to participate and give Starlink to its
inhabitants, especially if we're thinking about the free and
independent Internet that's done and gives access to.
We can definitely see how actors like Russia or China might not want that.
So there's definitely still space for another actor or another provider to come in
specifically with those needs in mind.
Although China leads the world with the highest number of Internet users, the
country also has the second highest unconnected population in the world after
India. In terms of China's broader plan for rivaling the U.S., I would say as a
science and technology power, they view space as an emerging technological
frontier, one where the projection of power will be incredibly important, and you can
see the money that they're already investing in other aspects of their space program.
So for example, recently they landed a probe for the first time on the far side of the
moon and brought back soil samples.
They have a goal to land astronauts on the moon by 2030 and to even potentially establish
a lunar base in the south pole of the moon by 2035.
So clearly they take seriously the geopolitical implications of being able to rival the U.S.
when it comes to space.
Catching up to Starlink will be a tall order for China.
Meant to offer high-speed Internet to customers in remote and underserved areas, Starlink
already has nearly 7,000 operational satellites in orbit and serves around 5 million
customers in over 100 countries, according to SpaceX.
SpaceX hopes to eventually expand its mega constellation to as many as 42,000 satellites.
China is aiming for a similar scale.
Between Guowang, Tianfan, and Hongwu 3, China hopes to eventually have around 38,000 satellites
zooming around the planet.
Development of these projects is closely linked with the Chinese government, though China
has been increasingly opening its space projects to the private sector.
Guowang, which is a fully state-backed, 100% state-owned enterprise constellation.
The operating company for Guowang, China Satellite Networks Limited, it was established about
three and a half years ago.
Again, fully state-owned company under the direct control of the state council.
Thousand Sales, also called Tianfan, which is Thousand Sales in Chinese.
It's a largely government-controlled enterprise.
