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SYDNEY: China will lose access to a strategic space-tracking station in Western Australia when its contract expires, the facility’s owners said, a decision that cuts off the expansion of Beijing’s space exploration and navigation capabilities in the Pacific region.
The Swedish Space Corporation (SSC) has a contract allowing Beijing access to the satellite antenna at the ground station since at least 2011. It is located next to an SSC satellite station used primarily by the United States and its agencies, including NASA. .
The Swedish state-owned company told Reuters it would not enter into any new contracts on the Australian site to support Chinese customers after its current contract expires. However, it did not disclose when the lease expires.
“Given the complexity of the Chinese market, caused by the general geopolitical situation, SSC has decided to focus primarily on other markets over the next few years,” the company said in an email response to questions.
The site is owned by SSC’s subsidiary, SSC Space Australia.
The Australian government did not immediately respond to questions on Monday (September 21).
China’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters.
The expansion of China’s space capabilities, including the increasing sophistication of its Beidou navigation network, is one of the new frontiers of tension between the United States and China, clashing on everything from technology and trade to Chinese activities in the disputed South China Sea. .
READ: Australia faces China in high-risk strategy
Australia has a strong alliance with the United States, including working together on space research and programs, while Canberra’s trade and diplomatic ties with Beijing have also been fractured.
China last used the Yatharagga satellite station, located about 350 kilometers north of the Australian city of Perth, in June 2013 to support the three-person Shenzhou 10 mission that completed a series of space docking tests, SSC said. .
The SSC said the current contract supports Chinese science space missions within its manned spaceflight program for telemetry, tracking and command services.
EXPANSION ABROAD
Ground stations are a vital part of space programs since they create a telecommunications link with spacecraft. While the stations have different capabilities, they can be equipped to coordinate satellites for civil-military global navigation satellite (GNSS) systems such as Beidou, Russia’s GLONASS, the European Union’s Galileo system, and US-owned GPS.
READ: China puts final satellite into orbit to try to rival GPS network
China’s space program has increased its access to overseas ground stations in recent years in line with the expansion of its space exploration and navigation programs.
“Generally speaking, anywhere you place a GNSS monitoring ground station will improve positioning accuracy for that region,” said Joon Wayn Cheong, senior research associate at the School of Electrical Engineering at the University of New South Wales.
Christopher Newman, Professor of Space Law and Policy at Northumbria University in Newcastle, England, said China wants to eliminate its reliance on GPS as part of broader plans to expand its global influence.
“GPS might not be available to them in a military conflict. A separate secure system is crucial to the People’s Liberation Army’s capabilities with regard to targets, weapons and navigation,” Newman told Reuters.
Last year, Beijing reestablished diplomatic relations with the small Pacific island nation of Kiribati, where it has a dormant land station in the central Pacific Ocean.
