FPI / August 2, 2021
Geostrategy-Direct.com
By Richard Fisher
China is now building for nuclear superiority on Earth but also for satellite superiority in space.
A recent report details how China is now building three large satellite factories that could produce up to 1,000 satellites a year.
The requirement for such a mass of satellites was made clear in a July 27 New York Times report detailing the discovery of a second new silo field of intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) silos in Xinjiang, based on a review of commercial satellite imagery by the liberal Federation of American Scientists.
This new silo field, added to a previously revealed silo field in Gansu Province yields a potential total of over 230 new ICBMs, that in turn have the potential for deploying 2,300 new nuclear warheads.
When you add potential new submarine ballistic missile (SLBM) and air launched warheads, China could be headed to a warhead total of between 3,000 and 4,000.
As such, China has a large requirement for providing for precision guidance for these warheads, as it will require thousands of future satellites to ensure that its People’s Liberation Army has secure communications, strategic surveillance, assured weather monitoring and electronic warfare and surveillance capabilities from space.
To do so China is now building three large satellite factories, as described in a July 22 report “China’s Super Satellite Factories and US National Security,” by U.S. Air Force supported China Aerospace Studies Institute analyst Josh Baughman, for web magazine of the Military Cyber Professionals Association (MCPA).
These satellite factories are being build in China’s “private” sector but supported by government funding via Chinese policies of Civil-Military-Integration, by which the civilian sector is obliged to support programs and goals of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
On factory is being produced by major Chinese automobile manufacturer Geely in Taizhou. When complete it will have the capacity to produce about 500 satellites a year. Many of these satellites will form a Geely-controlled mega satellite constellation that could eventually enable future Geely electric automobiles to have autonomous guidance, or self-driving capabilities.
However, this ability to provide the necessary centimeter-level precision guidance for autos, could also provide similar precision guidance for aircraft, precision-guided weapons and for hypersonic nuclear warheads.
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