South China Morning Post: China is developing a weapon that can destroy or disable satellites including Starlink in minutes
Chinese scientists have developed the world’s first microwave weapon with a power of up to 20 gigawatts, capable of operating continuously for one minute, targeting satellites such as Starlink in low Earth orbit.
“The TPG1000Cs is the world’s first compact generator for high-power microwave weapons, with the potential to produce 20 gigawatts of power for a minute,” the South China Morning Post reported in a report on the new development.
The report noted that the device was developed by engineers at the Northwest Institute of Nuclear Technology in Xi’an, Shaanxi Province, China.
The device is four meters long and weighs about five tons, and is compact enough to be mounted on the platforms of trucks, warships or even satellites.
According to estimates by Chinese experts cited by the newspaper, ground-based microwave weapons of this type can severely damage or completely destroy Starlink satellites in low Earth orbit.
The report also compared the Chinese system with other systems, explaining that similar systems currently known can operate non-stop for no more than three seconds and are much larger.
The report cited the example of the Russian system Sinus-7, which produces about 100 pulses per cycle and weighs about 10 tons.
This comes in the context of the growing global technological and military competition in the field of space and directed energy systems, without official confirmation from the competent Chinese authorities on the contents of the report or its technical details.
