A new generation of high-power microwave weapons is moving from theory to hardware, and the latest claim from China is stark: a compact 20 gigawatt system designed to cripple satellites with a focused burst that lasts just 60-second. Framed as a potential “Starlink killer,” the device is pitched as a way to blind or burn out the electronics of low orbit spacecraft without a single piece of shrapnel entering space. For militaries that now depend on constellations like Starlink for communications, navigation, and targeting, the prospect of a silent, ground-based satellite fryer is strategically unsettling.
At the same time, the technology sits at the intersection of physics, engineering limits, and geopolitical messaging. The claims around power levels, firing duration, and compactness suggest a leap beyond earlier experimental systems, and they arrive as Russia and China openly search for ways to counter commercial satellite networks that have become embedded in modern warfare. I see this weapon less as a standalone gadget and more as a signal that the race to dominate the electromagnetic spectrum in orbit is accelerating.
Inside China’s 20 GW ‘Starlink killer’ concept
According to technical descriptions, China has developed what is presented as the world’s first high-power microwave, or HPM, weapon capable of delivering up to 20 gigawatts of output in a controlled burst, a scale that would place it at the top tier of directed energy systems globally. Reports describe the device as a compact microwave beam generator that can be fired from the ground at satellites in low orbit, with the energy concentrated enough to disrupt or destroy sensitive onboard electronics without relying on kinetic impact, a capability that Chinese sources explicitly link to perceived threats from foreign satellite constellations to China. The system is described as an HPM device, aligning it with a broader class of weapons that use intense electromagnetic pulses rather than projectiles to achieve their effect.
What makes this design particularly alarming to satellite operators is the claimed ability to sustain a 20 gigawatt beam for a continuous 60-second window, long enough to track and dwell on a fast-moving spacecraft in low orbit. Chinese scientists involved in the project are cited as saying the weapon can be used against warships, aircraft, and even satellites, and that its compact architecture allows it to be mounted on different platforms, including potentially on orbiting spacecraft themselves, which would turn it into a mobile hunter of satellites marked as a threat to Starlink. The team behind the TPG1000Cs generator is linked to a Key laboratory, underscoring that this is not a fringe experiment but part of a structured national research effort tied to Key military priorities.
From 1 GW tests to 20 GW ambition
The 20 gigawatt claim does not appear in isolation, it builds on a series of reported Chinese experiments with high-power microwave systems that have steadily ratcheted up in intensity. Earlier work described a 1 gigawatt microwave weapon test with a pulse intensity likened to a nuclear explosion in terms of electromagnetic impact, a system that, if the performance figures are accurate, could already destroy satellites and drones with ease and meet the military’s requirements for HPM phased array antennas designed to target objects in low orbit for HPM use. Moving from 1 gigawatt to 20 gigawatts is not a simple linear upgrade, it implies major advances in pulsed power generation, thermal management, and beam control that would normally require bulky infrastructure.
In parallel, Chinese researchers have been linked to a 10 gigawatt “satellite killer” design that uses a microwave beam to fry spacecraft in orbit, a concept reportedly inspired by Cold War era Soviet experiments with directed energy. That 10 gigawatt system is described as a flexible platform that can be moved and hidden, making its location harder to detect and its deployment more unpredictable for adversaries watching for China. The progression from 1 gigawatt tests to 10 gigawatt designs and now a claimed 20 gigawatt operational concept suggests a deliberate roadmap, with each step framed as a response to the growing military use of commercial satellites.
How high-power microwaves attack satellites
To understand why a 20 gigawatt system is so threatening, it helps to look at how HPM weapons function at a basic level. High-power microwave devices create beams of electromagnetic energy across a broad spectrum of radio and microwave frequencies, which can be tuned to either narrow-band or wide-band effects depending on the target and mission. When such a beam hits an electronic system, it can induce large currents and voltages in circuits, antennas, and wiring, leading to permanent damage or temporary disruption from which recovery may or may not be possible, a mechanism that has been studied extensively in the context of HPM research. Satellites, with their exposed antennas, solar arrays, and compact avionics, are particularly vulnerable if the beam can be focused tightly enough over the distance from ground to orbit.
Chinese reporting on the new weapon emphasizes that the compact microwave beam technology can disrupt satellite operations in low orbit all the way from the ground, with the energy concentrated into a beam that can be steered and held on a target for the full 60-second firing window. The same architecture is described as being adaptable to warships and aircraft, suggesting a family of systems that could project electromagnetic force across domains from the surface of Earth into space. If mounted on satellites, as some Chinese scientists propose, the same beam could be used at closer range against other spacecraft, reducing atmospheric losses and making it even more difficult for targeted operators to detect and respond in time.
Who is building it, and why now?
The reported 20 gigawatt system is attributed to a team of Chinese scientists working on advanced microwave technology, with several accounts pointing to the Northwest Institute of Nuclear Technology in Xi’an, Shaanxi, as a key development center. That institute is described as being responsible for a microwave weapon capable of disabling Starlink satellites, with researchers quoted as saying the new generation of devices is more deadly and harder to detect than earlier concepts, a claim that aligns with the shift from bulky test rigs to compact, potentially mobile systems in Shaanxi. The institute’s background in nuclear technology and pulsed power makes it a logical home for such work, since generating 20 gigawatts, even briefly, requires the kind of expertise more commonly associated with nuclear test diagnostics and high-energy physics.
The timing is not accidental. The military use of SpaceX’s satellite network has pushed Russia and China to ramp up their counter-strategies, with both countries exploring technologies explicitly described as “Starlink killers” to take down Elon Musk’s satellite network that has supported communications and drone operations on the battlefield. Chinese analysts have argued that constellations like Starlink pose a direct threat to national security by enabling resilient, high-bandwidth links for adversaries, a concern that has been cited to justify the development of HPM weapons capable of delivering up to 20 gigawatts as a deterrent to perceived encirclement by Western space infrastructure for HPM. In that context, the 20 gigawatt weapon is as much a political signal as a technical milestone, telegraphing that China and Russia are prepared to contest the orbital layer that underpins Western command and control for Russia and China.
More from Morning Overview
