SCMP
The TPG1000Cs could become Starlink’s worst nightmare
A team of Chinese scientists has built the world’s first microwave weapon. With a power of 20 GW, the “Starlink killer” is capable of firing 60-second bursts.
At the Northwest Institute of Nuclear Technology (NINT) in Xian, China, lies an ordinary-looking device called a TPG1000Cs — a microwave impeller that could become the Starlink’s worst nightmare.
Developed by a team of NINT researchers, this impeller will be the fundamental component of a new compact beam firing weapon microwave, which will allegedly be capable of shoot down satellites from the ground.
The impeller can provide remarkable 20 gigawatts of power for one minute, note the . Until now, similar systems were only able to fire continuously during no more than three seconds.
The TPG1000Cs only has 4 meters long and weighs just five tons, thanks to a structure manufactured in aluminum alloywhich makes it small and compact enough to be mounted on trucks, aircraft and even satellites.
The device was presented in a recently published in the magazine High Power Laser and Particle Beams. According to its authors, the system can provide up to 3,000 high-energy pulses in a single sessionwhich far surpasses other similar devices.
The system “has already accumulated more than 200,000 operational pulses, demonstrating stable and reliable performance and paving the way for multiplatform deployment of high-power systems,” the scientists say in their article.
According to SCMP, with an output power of apenas 1 GWa land-based microwave weapon could disrupt satellite communications from Starlink, or even damaging the satellites themselves.
The impeller Sinus7 from Russia, for example, could operate for about one second, providing around 100 pulses per burst. Despite these comparatively limited capabilities, weighed about 10 tonsnotes the Hong Kong newspaper.
For their system, NINT scientists replaced traditional straight-tube designs with a compact double-U structureallowing energy to bounce back efficiently. This allegedly makes it possible to obtain equivalent performance in about half the space.
Furthermore, simple material improvementssuch as switching to a better quality insulating oil, allowed for a storage capacity significantly higher energy. These combined advances have offered energy storage solutions more compact, powerful and reliable.
Chinese authorities have warned that SpaceX’s Starlink satellites represent a threat to your national security. This new “satellite killer” weapon appears to be a response to that threat.
