Not just spy balloons: all of China’s space moves in Antarctica
China carries out operations in Antarctica to project power and seek mineral reserves. The article by Giuseppe Gagliano
While much of international observers are turning their attention to the spy balloon , China is projecting its power into Antarctica through the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC), which has been selected to build a new ground station in Antarctica.
CHINA'S MOVES ON SATELLITE
Let's take a step back: since 2002 China has been able to put eight ocean-observing satellites into orbit, and certainly the new ground infrastructure in Antarctica should facilitate the transmission of data from the satellites that have been placed in orbit.
The new antennas, as well as the receiving terminal, will be built at China's Zhongshan Science Facility, also called "station", which is located in East Antarctica, near Prydz Bay, facing the Indian Ocean. Of particular significance, this facility is one of five Antarctic research stations operated by the China Polar Research Institute.
THE VALUE OF ANTARCTICA FOR CHINA
What is then – beyond the journalistic relevance – the political importance of this report?
The possibility that these infrastructures are used in dual use mode, ie they are used in civilian and military terms, is a far from remote possibility, as demonstrated by what China has done in the South China Sea.
In short, it should come as no surprise that China has conducted – and is conducting – secret military activities in Antarctica also with the aim of exploring new mineral resources.
Another point to note is that Chinese ground stations are central to China's space power projection policy. In this regard, we need to take a look at the political choices made by China at a global level: in South America it has 11 stations – two in Venezuela, three in Bolivia, one in Chile, one in Brazil and four in Argentina. With the exception of Chile, these countries are pursuing geopolitical choices contrary to American influence. Political choices, these, which are certainly not random.
According to more reliable scenarios made by analysts, China intends to launch more than 200 satellites this year.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/cina-antartide-satelliti/ on Tue, 14 Feb 2023 08:02:15 +0000.