By Sun Guangbo and Feng Songjiang
孙广博 丰松江
US space exploration technology company Space X officially released the Starshield satellite project dedicated to the government, defense, and intelligence agencies on its official website on December 2. The Starshield will use the technology and launch capabilities of Starlink satellites to provide space and ground services for government customers. The initial cooperation projects include Earth observation, communications, and hosted payload . This means that Space X has completely torn off its "civilian" cloak and exposed its "military" essence. It also revealed the US's ambition to maintain global hegemony and seek to dominate space one more time.
12月2日，美国太空探索技术公司（Space X）正式在其官网主页发布了专门为政府、国防和情报部门服务的“星盾”卫星项目。“星盾”将利用“星链”卫星的技术和发射能力，为政府客户提供太空与地面服务，初步合作项目包括地球观测、安全通信和有效载荷托管。这不仅意味着Space X彻底撕掉了“民用”外衣，露出“军用”实质，也让美国维护全球霸权、谋求成为太空“霸主”的野心再次昭然若揭。
The Starshield plans to deploy more than 15,000 satellites in low- Earth orbit , and it will take three years to complete the launch and networking of all satellites. These satellites have basic functions such as communication, navigation, and remote sensing, and can provide multiple services such as encrypted data transmission and battlefield information perception.
“星盾”计划在近地轨道上部署超过1.5万颗卫星，用3年时间完成全部卫星的发射和组网。这些卫星具备通信、导航、遥感等基础功能，同时可提供数据加密传输、战场信息感知等多项服务。
The Starshield provides encrypted private network services and becomes encrypted servers for intelligence. Communication is the main business of Starlink, and its anti-jamming and secrecy capabilities have withstood the test in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The Starshield may have new improvements in security, delay, bandwidth, and other indicators, and can provide data encryption transmission services for US intelligence agencies, Pentagon and other departments. Particularly, it can provide high-throughput information transmission on the battlefield that the US military has always lacked, thus improving the combat capabilities of the US military in communication relay, navigation and positioning, and precision strikes.
提供加密专用网络服务，成为情报的加密服务器。通信是“星链”的本行业务，其抗干扰和保密能力在俄乌冲突中经受住了实践考验。“星盾”或将在安全性、时延、带宽等指标上有新的提高，从而为美国情报机构、国防部等部门提供数据加密传输服务，特别是为美军一直欠缺的战场高通量信息传输等方面提供支持，提高美军通信中继、导航定位、精确打击等作战能力。
The Starshield is equipped with a laser communication system and can become a switch of the information network. The Starshield satellites are equipped with inter-satellite laser communication terminals, which can transmit information at high speed with satellites or ground stations at different altitudes. They can form a Starshield space-based network with cross-orbit communication capabilities. The Starshield can also be integrated with the satellite network of the military and commercial partner companies to perform data interaction, processing, and distribution in orbit, and can support the rapid closure of the kill chain. This will help the US military achieve a "hybrid space architecture" and enhance its space combat capabilities.
配备激光通信系统，成为信息网络的交换机。“星盾”卫星均搭载有星间光学链路通信终端，能够与不同高度的卫星或地面站进行高速信息传递，从而构建具备跨轨道通信能力的“星盾”天基网络。“星盾”还可与军方和商业伙伴公司的卫星网络连为一体，在轨进行数据交互、处理与分发，支持快速闭合杀伤链。这将助力美军实现“混合太空架构”，提升太空作战能力。
The Starshield strengthens the situational awareness of the US military and becomes a monitor on battlefields. Unlike Starlink, which only uses Space X's dedicated system, the Starshield will be compatible with the interface of third-party payloads, and can carry payloads of different types, purposes, and manufacturers. Other satellite platforms can also be seamlessly connected to Starlink and Starshield as long as they are equipped with the Starlink communication module. Remote sensing satellites used to measure the Earth, communication satellites used to carry space base station networks, etc., can all become "network nodes" for interconnection and interoperability. The Starshield is tantamount to installing networked "surveillance cameras" all over the world. By then, military operations including the launch of ballistic missiles, hypersonic missiles, and fighter jets will hardly escape the monitoring of the US.
强化美军的态势感知能力，成为美军战场的监视器。与“星链”只采用Space X专用系统不同，“星盾”将会兼容第三方负载的接口，能够搭载不同类型、不同用途、不同厂家的载荷。其他卫星平台只要搭载了“星链”通信模块，也可以无缝连接到“星链”和“星盾”中。测量地球的遥感卫星、用于搭载太空基站组网的通信卫星等，都能成为互联互通互操作的“网络节点”。“星盾”一旦建成，无异于给全世界装上了联网的“监控摄像头”，届时包括弹道导弹、高超声速导弹的发射以及战斗机起飞等军事行动，都很难逃过美国的监控。
It exposes US's ambition for piecing together a "space NATO". The US has signed space situational awareness sharing agreements with many countries and related entities, and signed agreements with Japan, the ROK and other allies on remote sensing reconnaissance and missile early warning to building a "space NATO". Considering that the service objects of the Starshield are not limited to the US military, the space forces of other NATO countries and allies such as Japan, the ROK, and Australia may be able to connect to the Starshield network.
圈地收割，拼凑“太空北约”图谋更加明显。美国与多国及有关实体签订了太空态势感知共享协议，与日韩等盟友分别签署了遥感侦察、导弹预警等协议，图谋打造“太空北约”。考虑到“星盾”的服务对象并不局限于美军，届时北约其他国家以及日本、韩国、澳大利亚等盟友的太空力量，或将可以连接到“星盾”网络。
It is not difficult to see that although the Starshield has completed the separation from the Starlink, which has the cloak of "civilian use", it is not only used for defensive purposes as the name suggests. If the technology is mature, it can fully undertake tasks such as the competition for satellite tracks. The conflict between Russia and Ukraine has proved that the so-called Starlink system is not a purely "civilian" project at all. The Starshield project, based on Starlink, further demonstrates the ambition of the US to seek space hegemony. It seriously violates the common aspiration of mankind to use space peacefully and will further intensify the militarization of space. The international community should stay vigilant against the Starshield project.
不难看出，“星盾”虽然名义上与披着“民用”外衣的“星链”完成了切割，但并不是名字上看起来那样只用于防御目的，只要技术成熟，完全可以承担争夺卫星轨道等任务。何况，俄乌冲突已经证明，所谓的“星链”系统根本不是单纯的“民用”项目。脱胎于“星链”之上的“星盾”项目，更加彰显了美国图谋太空霸权的野心，严重违背人类和平利用太空的共同愿望，将使太空军事化程度进一步加剧，值得国际社会高度警惕。
(The author is from the Space Security Research Center, PLA Space Engineering University)
（作者单位：航天工程大学太空安全研究中心）
