In a paper published by the Chinese journal Modern Defense Technology, Chinese scientists
highlighted the possibility of Starlink being used for military purposes that could aid other
countries and threaten China's national security and argued that China must develop
capabilities to disable and maybe even destroy Starlink internet satellites. According to South
China Morning Post, the scientists are calling for the development of anti-satellite capabilities,
including both hard and soft kill methods. The former is used to physically destroy satellites,
such as the use of missiles, while a soft kill method targets a satellite's software and operating
system. In addition, the researchers suggested the development of a surveillance system with the ability to track each and every Starlink satellite. That would address one of their concerns,
which is the possibility of launching military payloads along with a bunch of satellites for the
constellation.
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