Sending 10 thousand satellites! A big rival to Starlink emerged

With China’s bold move, a great conflict begins in space. Eventually, satellite internet connection will no longer be a monopoly and internet access will be provided worldwide. Honghu-3 plans to launch 10 thousand satellites to compete with Elon Musk’s Starlink project. So who is this company? Will our atmosphere be able to handle this many satellites? Here are the details…

Starlink rival Chinese Honghu-3 sends 10 thousand satellites into space

We all know about Elon Musk and his massive Starlink project. The American billionaire plans to launch 42 thousand satellites and has already put 5 thousand 874 satellites into orbit so far. But will the Chinese remain idle? Shanghai Lanjian Hongqing Technology Company (shortly known as Hongqing Technology) is working on a satellite constellation project called Honghu-3 to compete with Starlink.

Hongqing Technology reported this huge project to the International Telecommunication Union on May 24. The plan includes 10 thousand satellites that will be spread across 160 different orbital planes. Thanks to these satellites, internet access will be provided even to the most remote corners of the world.

Honghu-3 is just one of China’s large-scale projects in space. There were two other big projects before, such as “national Guowang plan” and “Shanghai-backed G60 Starlink”. We should also point out that Hongqing Technology used Hall thruster technology in this project. The Jinwu-200 thruster system, powered by krypton gas, was successfully tested last December.

Apart from being a Starlink rival, China is also taking great steps in the commercial space field. A new satellite production facility is being established in Wuxi City, and various rocket companies are also preparing to take part in this race. For example, Landspace is developing a reusable rocket called Zhuque-3. This rocket will be capable of carrying a load of 21 thousand kilograms and will make its first flight in 2025.

Our atmosphere may be a little troubled by this news. Of course, these large satellite projects bring with them some problems. Astronomers worry that so many satellites will fill the night sky with light pollution and hinder observations. Additionally, when so many satellites are in orbit, the risk of collision increases and the amount of debris in space increases.

Identity and report of Honghu-3 satellites from here you can view. Competition in the space race is increasing and we are following the developments closely for now. Let’s see how this race will end. What are you thinking? You can write your opinions in the comments section below.