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Why Starlink and China’s internet satellite groups need to talk to each other

  • Research by space agency team finds competing networks could harm each other, with an advantage to the smaller constellation
  • ‘Lose-lose situation’ can be avoided if operations are coordinated to make sure everyone has enough room, CNSA study says

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There are more than 3,000 Starlink satellites in orbit, with plans for a total of more than 30,000, while China is also expanding its smaller StarNet communications network. Photo: SpaceX
Stephen Chenin Beijing

Internet satellite networks owned by different countries must coordinate their operations or risk hurting each other’s services, a study by China’s space agency has warned.

A China National Space Administration (CNSA) team led by researcher Liu Huiliang produced computer modelling that showed a medium-sized constellation of about 450 satellites could effectively reduce the communication bandwidth of a satellite network of more than 1,500.

In one computer-simulated scenario, operators of the smaller network changed the satellites’ flight path to achieve full communication speed, causing a performance dip in the larger network.

This is because the larger network “does not know another system is making proactive moves and continues using the original strategy to communicate with ground stations”, according to the study published in the January edition of peer-reviewed journal Chinese Space Science and Technology.

The findings counter the generally held view that a larger network would have the upper hand in a fight for limited resources in space. Elon Musk, founder of US-based SpaceX, said last year there was room for tens of billions of satellites in lower-Earth orbit.

But different satellite constellations often used similar radio frequencies which could interfere with each other when communicating with ground stations, Liu and his colleagues said.

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