When we think on the Internet by satellite, the first name that usually comes to the head is Starlink. And it’s no accident: The network promoted by Elon Musk He has achieved something that, until a few years ago, seemed unattainable for most. Take broadband connectivity to rural areas, remote or directly forgotten by traditional infrastructure, with reasonable latency and prices that millions of users can assume. Starlink did not invent the satellite Internet, but he did bring him the general public as never before.
In that process, it also activated a second less visible layer. Because Starlink is not just a civil service: it is also a strategic piece that the United States has already begun to integrate into its military architecture. What was born as a commercial service has become a tactical advantage that other countries are not willing to ignore. One of them is China.
In recent years, the country has accelerated the development of a satellite constellation in low orbit. Some present it as “the Chinese Starlink”, a label that sounds good but simplifies in excess. Do we talk about a commercial alternative aimed at offering the Internet in rural areas? Or are we facing something more ambitious, more oriented to strategic capacities? That network is called Guowang (国网), and this is what we know so far.
Guowang, more than a satellite network
Guowang is the name with which the satellite constellation is known that China is deploying in low terrestrial orbit. Its formal name is 中国星网, which could be translated as “China Satellite Network”, and its most common abbreviation is 国网, or Guowang. Although the reference has become common in international media, behind the project there is no private company or an open ecosystem, but a state company: China Satellite Network Group, known as China Satnet.
The headquarters were established in the new Xiong’an area, a city planned from zero by the central government to become New innovation poleand the presence of China Satnet there is not less. In 2024, the company completed its transfer, marking a symbolic milestone as the first full state -owned state company in that area. For Beijing, this project is as technological as political.
As we said, since it began to talk about Guowang, many have labeled it as “the Chinese Starlink.” And although it is easy to understand why the comparison arises, the reality is more complex. In basic terms, both constellations seek the same: a network of thousands of satellites in low orbit to offer global connectivity services. But everything that surrounds the Chinese project points in another direction. While Starlink is consumer oriented, Guowang does not present, at least for now, hiring channels, or commercial catalog.
China
Today, it is not clear if Guowang intends to offer direct connectivity to users, as Starlink does, or if your vocation is more structural: provide data coverage to critical infrastructures, government networks or defense systems. This ambiguity contrasts with the parallel development of Qianfan (千帆), a second constellation that does seem designed to offer commercial services, with flat satellites and international approach. The coexistence of both projects suggests that China has opted for a double track: a visible and open constellation for the civil world, and another more discreet, with a potentially strategic role.
Today, it is not clear if Guowang intends to offer direct connectivity to users, as Starlink does.
The documentation presented by China before the International Telecommunications Union includes a megaconstellation of 12,992 satellites, divided into two layers: one between 500 and 600 kilometers of altitude and another around 1,145 kilometers. It is precisely this second layer that has starred all the releases made so far. Since December 2024, the rate of activity has been constant, but has gained speed in the second semester of 2025. Only between July and August at least four satellite releases have been made, a cadence that begins to remember the first steps of Starlink.
Even so, The total orbit number remains modest. The most recent estimates speak of about 70 operational satellites, a minimum fraction if compared to the declared objectives. But this first deployment does not seem improvised.
One of the great unknowns that surround Guowang has to do with what their satellites can do. Unlike Starlink, the Chinese project has barely given technical details. However, Guawang’s satellites could be equipped with technologies that go beyond traditional connectivity.
One of Guowang’s many releases
Among the capacities that are considered are laser communications terminals, optical sensors, synthetic opening radars (SAR) and high capacity data broadcasting systems. This type of instruments would allow the network to perform monitoring, monitoring or logistical support functions in complex operation environments, whether civil or military.
The way in which constellation is built reinforces this idea: satellites are not manufactured in a single center, nor are they thrown with a single type of rocket, but involve several different contractors and platforms. That modular architecture It gives rise to a network designed to integrate multiple functions, and not exclusively to offer the Internet.
Satellites are not manufactured in a single center, nor are they launched with a single type of rocket, but involve several different contractors and platforms
In the military field, American analysts have already begun to draw parallels between Guowang and Starshield, the Satellites System that Spacex is developing for the United States Department of Defense. Although there is no official confirmation, the comparison reinforces the hypothesis that Guowang is not simply a commercial project, but a network with much broader functions than has been communicated so far.
It may seem like a remote project, but Guowang has a lot to do with European interests. At a time when the European Union promotes initiatives such as IRIS2 for Reffort your connectivity autonomythe advance of a constellation such as Guawang, completely controlled by the Chinese state, introduces a relevant variable in the global technological map.
The political component is also important. Unlike Starlink, which operates under a private company with commercial interests, Guowang, as we say, is designed, financed and operated by the state apparatus. It is important to take this into account if at any time coverage agreements are activated in third countries, or if the network is used to support sensitive operations.
The initiative is still in an initial phase, but The next months will be decisive To understand your true purpose.
Images | WorldOfSoftware with Gemini 2.5 | CSCN
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