China’s satellites are improving rapidly. The PLA will benefit
When China launched the Yaogan-41 satellite into space late last year, it travelled further than most such objects. Reconnaissance satellites tend to sit in low-Earth orbit (LEO), whizzing around the planet between 11 and 16 times a day (see chart 1). But Yaogan-41 headed for higher ground, some 36,000km from the Earth.
There, in geostationary orbit (GEO), the point at which a satellite circles the planet slowly enough to remain above the same point, it began watching. China says Yaogan-41 will be used for benign activities, such as estimating crop yields and meteorological forecasting. But it is positioned over an area that includes Taiwan, the South China Sea and other potential flashpoints.
Pairing its sharp eyes with artificial intelligence (AI) and information from other satellites could give China a unique ability to keep tabs on vehicles and vessels in the region. That would come in handy in the event of war, suggests a new analysis by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. The launch of the Yaogan-41 is part of a larger Chinese push into the cosmos.
China spends more on its space programme than any country bar America. In 2019 China landed a rover on the far side of the moon. Two years later it deployed one on Mars.
Those efforts seem innocuous enough, but much of its activity has potential strategic value. An area of particular concern is satellites. Over the past decade China has massively increased the number of satellites it has in operation, to a total of over 600 today (see chart 2).
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