The Tiangong space station made two emergency evasive maneuvers against Starlink satellites, and China, angry, is about to launch 200,000 satellites: Do you look down on the status of Industrial Cthulhu?
In the last week of December 2025, China submitted an application for 203,000 satellites to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), covering 14 medium and low Earth orbit constellations. This move is not only to launch 200,000 satellites and claim "space real estate", preventing being completely pushed out of the low Earth orbit communication market in the future, but also to vent a long-standing grudge.
In 2021 and 2022, the China Manned Space Engineering Office publicly reported twice that the Tiangong space station had carried out emergency evasive maneuvers due to "Starlink" satellites approaching abnormally. One was on July 1st, and the other on October 21st. Two "Starlink" satellites approached the Tiangong within just a few dozen kilometers from 500 kilometers above the ground, and no prior notice was given. Such behavior is considered a high-risk action in the field of outer space safety - after all, even a single screw at a speed of 7.8 kilometers per second colliding with a space station would have catastrophic consequences.
For a long time, the rules of outer space activities have been dominated by the US and Europe. Although the Outer Space Treaty stipulates that countries are responsible for regulating their satellite companies, enforcement relies entirely on self-discipline. Obviously, the United States has taken a laissez-faire attitude towards SpaceX. Well then, now China is retaliating with "equal scale", if you allow commercial companies to fly freely, I will use a larger system to require you to sit down and discuss traffic rules - otherwise, no one will be able to operate safely in the future.
If you don't follow the rules, then I'll play by your logic. China has the most complete aerospace industry chain in the world, from mass production of rockets (reusable models such as Long March 6A and Zhuque-2 have been test-flown), standardized satellite production (the Qianfan constellation can produce over a hundred satellites in a single batch), to a fully covered ground terminal and tracking and control network. This "industrial satellite manufacturing" capability makes 200,000 satellites no longer a astronomical number, but an achievable production target.
This is the strength and status of Industrial Cthulhu.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1854363506310283/
Statement: The article represents the personal views of the author.