20-gigawatt Chinese microwave weapon touted as ‘Starlink’s worst nightmare’ by country's media — portable 5-ton device can deliver full-minute destructive bursts

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A special liquid insulating material, dubbed ‘Midel 7131', is instrumental in this advance.

TPG1000Cs
(Image credit: Northwest Institute of Nuclear Technology)

Scientists in China have reportedly developed an incredibly powerful microwave weapon capable of disrupting or damaging low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites. Hong Kong’s SCMP newspaper makes no bones about it, referencing the threat to Starlink satellites multiple times, and even characterizing the TPG1000Cs as “Starlink’s worst nightmare.”

TPG1000Cs was created by a research team based at the High-Power Microwave Science and Technology Key Laboratory of the Northwest Institute of Nuclear Technology (NINT) in Xi’an, Shaanxi Province, China. This high-powered microwave (HPM) weapon is built around a 20-gigawatt Tesla-type pulsed power driver.

Reports suggest that TPG1000Cs is remarkable for two main reasons. First, it is claimed to be the first device capable of sustaining a high-power 20-gigawatt microwave energy burst for a full minute. Secondly, the scientists have been able to cram this HPM weapon into a 4m (12ft) long, 5-ton device. The size/weight of TPG1000Cs makes it easy to mount on the back of a vehicle or even send into space. Importantly, previous HPM weapons would be around twice as big/heavy as the TPG1000Cs, and they wouldn’t be able to sustain bursts of more than a few seconds.

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According to the source report, Starlink satellites can potentially be disrupted by Earth-based HPM weapons of 1-gigawatt or higher, so this 20-gigawatt device is no pea shooter.

One of the key technologies that facilitated the creation of TPG1000Cs is a special liquid insulating material dubbed ‘Midel 7131.’ This, combined with a dual-width pulse-forming line, enabled the scientists to increase power and density.

The Chinese scientists have tested TPG1000Cs to confirm that they operate stably and are durable. Reports say that the system has already been tested “over continuous one-minute durations, accumulating approximately 200,000 pulses with consistent performance.”

We recently reported that Starlink satellites are set to be moved closer to Earth. Moreover, Chinese researchers have run simulations to determine whether the PLA would be able to deny access to Starlink over Taiwan, as if China is preparing for a Russia-inspired Special Military Operation of its own.

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Mark Tyson
Mark Tyson
News Editor

Mark Tyson is a news editor at Tom's Hardware. He enjoys covering the full breadth of PC tech; from business and semiconductor design to products approaching the edge of reason.

12 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Zaranthos
    I wonder if Starlink will play a role in the golden dome, or just that fact that SpaceX probably will and China doesn't like the idea that their offensive capabilities will be reduced, especially the ability to nuke who they view as their chief adversary.

    It would be nice if we could all just get along and not keep finding new ways to blow things up, but I guess conflict helps drive technological innovation, sometimes...
    Reply
  • jp7189
    Breaking up LEO satellites is when it might be appropriate to bring up Kessler Syndrome.
    Reply
  • lmcnabney
    jp7189 said:
    Breaking up LEO satellites is when it might be appropriate to bring up Kessler Syndrome.
    I thought about that, but the altitude that these satellites are being brought down to wouldn't lead to a long-term Kessler Syndrome. In a couple decades they will have all burned up. It would be highly disruptive when it happened, but wouldn't be permanent.
    Reply
  • FunSurfer
    What happens to an unfortunate plane that happens to pass through a 20-gigawatt microwave energy burst?
    Reply
  • thisisaname
    lmcnabney said:
    I thought about that, but the altitude that these satellites are being brought down to wouldn't lead to a long-term Kessler Syndrome. In a couple decades they will have all burned up. It would be highly disruptive when it happened, but wouldn't be permanent.
    Nothing is LEO is permanent.
    Reply
  • bit_user
    Zaranthos said:
    It would be nice if we could all just get along and not keep finding new ways to blow things up,
    As long as resources are finite, there will continue to be competition for them. In other words, competition is basically an intrinsic part of life.

    Zaranthos said:
    I guess conflict helps drive technological innovation, sometimes...
    Competition is also intrinsic to evolution.
    Reply
  • Daelith
    Let's admit 1 min at 20GW and an incredibly efficient 90% yield of the weapon (yield is very probably lower). That's 2 GW of heat to dissipate.

    All that in 5 ton implement? Unless it's single use, don't see how that can work. You'd need refrigerating towers the size of a skyscraper.
    Reply
  • Sippincider
    Daelith said:
    Let's admit 1 min at 20GW and an incredibly efficient 90% yield of the weapon (yield is very probably lower). That's 2 GW of heat to dissipate.

    All that in 5 ton implement? Unless it's single use, don't see how that can work. You'd need refrigerating towers the size of a skyscraper.

    One also needs to get that kind of power to this portable device. 20GW is the electrical output of a small to midsized nation. Going to need more than a generators on a trailer.

    (Yeah laser wattage and electrical wattage are different measures, point is you'll need to bring a lot of power along if you want this to be portable.)
    Reply
  • Gururu
    Aren't microwaves easily blocked with a few metal screens?
    Reply
  • bill001g
    Gururu said:
    Aren't microwaves easily blocked with a few metal screens?
    More the issue with any kind of weapon that attempts to transmit some kind of energy over distance is the air absorbs huge amounts....or more the water in the air does.

    A screen does not really block microwaves it absorbs them. That just means it would burn up the screen before it gets to the satellite. It is all a matter of weight and how much shield they can put on satellites.

    To get rid of satellites they would be better off launch rockets with payloads of steal balls into the same orbit. Much simpler and would cause long term blockage of even replacement satellites. Problem is this quickly gets into how far does a country go before another country that has nuclear weapons says the world ends today.
    Reply