HELSINKI \u2014 The Shanghai government has expressed backing for a broadband megaconstellation consisting of an initial 1,296 satellites.<\/p>\n
A Shanghai Municipal People\u2019s Government press conference July 25\u00a0announced<\/a>\u00a0that a project known as \u201cG60 Starlink\u201d now envisions building a constellation of potentially more than 12,000 satellites. A first phase will see 1,296 satellites sent in orbit.<\/p>\n The \u201cG60 Starlink\u201d broadband constellation is a separate project to China\u2019s \u201cGuowang\u201d national satellite internet plan, commonly thought of as China\u2019s answer to SpaceX\u2019s Starlink.<\/p>\n China\u2019s government set up a state-owned enterprise in 2021 to oversee and coordinate the construction of the 13,000-satellite\u00a0Guowang<\/a>.<\/p>\n G60 Starlink was previously geared towards developing an internet satellite cluster without an overt constellation plan. The project is centered in Shanghai\u2019s Songjiang District and appears to offer an alternative to the national level Guowang plan.<\/p>\n The G60 Starlink development has been quietly ongoing since 2016, and announced its cluster plans\u00a0in 2021<\/a>. G60 refers to an expressway of the same name which runs through several cities in the Yangtze River Delta region. The project is part of a Science and Technology Innovation Valley initiative.<\/p>\n A key first development phase of the project includes a satellite manufacturing center capable of producing 300 satellites per year. The facility is expected to enter service during 2023. It was also stated to lower the cost of a single satellite by 35 percent, though without specifying a reference point.<\/p>\n A tweet by the account Megaconstellations suggests a request for coordination\u00a0filed\u00a0<\/a>with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in April could correspond to the G60 Starlink plan.<\/p>\n