NATO defence contractor will service Chinese military satellites. Should the West be concerned?

The debate about Chinese transparency has resurfaced. Right now, the world’s attention is focused on the alleged role of Chinese satellite providers taking part in military conflicts, for example in the US and Israel war with Iran.

CGSTL is a joint company set up in 2014 by China’s Jilin province government and a state research institute that serves China’s national defence, according to Chinese reports. KSAT is a Norwegian company, responsible for uplink and downlink services for many satellites in polar orbit. They operate through their SvalSat ground station in the Svalbard archipelago in the Norwegian Arctic.

On April 16, the Norwegian Communications Authority NKOM, threatened to fine KSAT for „illegally communicating” with five satellites, Newsweek reports. It would be the second such fine in five months. While contacted devices have not been identified, the KSAT spokesperson assured that the notice was not related to the CGSTL satellites.

John Strand, the CEO of Strand Consult, a Danish telecommunications research and advisory firm, has strongly criticised KSAT’s linkage to China. „Just filing an application to service Chinese satellites is absurd,” he said. He added that KSAT requested the license to service those devices in 2023, 18 months after the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, while everyone knew that China supports Russia industrially and diplomatically. CGSTL has been sanctioned by the US Treasury Department since December 2023 for supplying Russia’s military-industrial base. The Chinese company has also been sanctioned by the EU, Japan, Switzerland, Ukraine, and Taiwan. Strand accused KSAT of asking for permission to run Chinese spy satellites, suggesting that the company had been caught red-handed.

If one were to check out CGSTL’s website, it says that the company will never forget its „original mission to serve the country through space.” Around 53 percent of its employees are party members of The Communist Party of China (CPC). KSAT is a defence company providing for Europeans and Americans. Now that American international policy is changing, it is even more important that Europe has defence companies building its own capabilities. Such enterprises should not be tied closely to China, which is not a transparent partner.