China has officially made a bid for unprecedented dominance in low-Earth orbit, preparing a massive response to Starlink that could completely change the rules of the space game. In the final days of 2025, Beijing submitted plans to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) for the deployment of a mind-boggling 200,000 internet satellites – a figure that exceeds Elon Musk’s ambitions by nearly four times.
This “orbital assault” is being led by the newly established Institute for Radio Frequency Spectrum and Technological Innovation, based in Hebei Province. The core of the project are two giant constellations – CTC-1 and CTC-2, each of which includes exactly 96,714 devices. An interesting detail is that the institute was officially registered on December 30, 2025, just a day after the documentation had already been submitted to the ITU, which suggests lightning-fast state coordination.
China's move is not just a technological one, but a strategic "land grab". Since orbital slots and radio frequencies are a finite resource, Beijing is rushing to reserve positions under the principle of "first in, first out". If China manages to legitimize these quotas, every subsequent player - including American companies - will have to prove that its satellites will not interfere with the Chinese network.
The tension is also heightened by Beijing's sharp rhetoric against SpaceX. Chinese authorities directly accuse Starlink of creating dangerous situations and a "physical threat" to their spacecraft, especially after incidents with unplanned landings of American satellites at the end of 2025. At the same time, however, the planned clustering of 200,000 new objects in low orbit is causing panic among astronomers. According to scientists, such a density of artificial bodies will practically put an end to ground-based radio observations and turn the night sky into a giant glowing grid.
Despite the grandiose scale, many experts remain skeptical about the technical implementation. To realize this plan within the ITU-required 7 years, China will have to launch over 500 satellites every week - a logistical challenge unprecedented in human history. However, the message is clear: the orbital war for 2026 has already been declared.