20 Gigawatts of Lies: Why “EM Weapons Against Starlink” Are a Myth

Sensational headlines like “Chinese scientists have created the world’s first weapon capable of destroying Starlink” regularly appear in the media. There are hundreds of such stories. They get passed around from site to site, get embellished with sensational details, and create the impression that there’s already a “magic button” out there that can shoot down or disable satellites in orbit.

The problem is that this isn’t true. And a prime example of media hype is precisely the latest reports from many outlets about yet another “Starlink killer” — a Chinese “wonder weapon” emitting microwave electromagnetic radiation at a whopping 20 GW. Let’s break down why.

What’s the main manipulation here?

All such articles cite some scientific paper or experimental device and misrepresent its significance. A study by Chinese scientists on the development of a compact, lightweight pulsed power driver based on a Tesla transformer with a power output of 20 GW was no exception. Incidentally, the study wasn’t about weapons at all, but exclusively about power-supply and energy-provision solutions for such weapons.

Of course, no one wants to read such a long phrase. But headlines like “Starlink killer” or “invisible space weapon” make for great clickbait. So who’s actually going to read the text itself?

Between the phrases “scientists have researched an energy source for pulsed electromagnetic radiation” and “a weapon has been created that destroys Starlink” — there’s a chasm the size of common sense.

What is this really about?

The paper itself deals exclusively with providing 20 GW of power for a hypothetical EM weapon. But even when discussing laboratory or field tests of pulsed electromagnetic effects, it’s important to understand that in all such demonstrations, they are directed against unprotected electronics and operate at ranges of just a few kilometers — at best. In other words, we’re not talking about tens, let alone hundreds, of kilometers.

Even the most “ambitious” public claims cite figures of 1–6 km. There is not a single known, confirmed example of such a weapon being effective at a distance of even 9 km.

In the context of hunting satellites in near-Earth orbits, this is roughly equivalent to running after a modern airplane in the air with a fly swatter in your hand. You can only hit it at point-blank range, and even then, it’s not certain you’ll cause any damage at all. “Point-blank range” here means just a few kilometers — at a speed of approximately 28,000 km per hour…

This is definitely not about Starlink, and it’s not about satellites at all

Starlink consists of thousands of satellites in orbit hundreds of kilometers above Earth. And in the future — tens of thousands. Comparing systems with an effective range of a few kilometers to “satellite destruction” is like claiming that a pocket flashlight can illuminate the Moon because it’s “very bright.”

On a cosmic scale, such distances are practically nothing. Here, one could perhaps talk about destroying drones or other electronic devices at such distances, but certainly not satellites. And even then, it would be more for defense purposes. Because at such a distance, a massive and expensive piece of equipment would be “taken out” by defenders very quickly.

And the size of the 20 GW power transformer alone can be estimated from a photo taken from the aforementioned study. It would be impossible to call such a device compact. Accordingly, the platform for this “wonder weapon” belongs more to the realm of science fiction than to modern space applications.

• The word “Starlink” guarantees clicks
• “EMP weapon” or “EM weapon” sounds scary
• 20 GW and all sorts of technical terms sound very impressive
• Against the backdrop of its standoff with the U.S., China is constantly stoking interest in its own space projects and technologies
• Another 100,500 similar reasons

As for the fact that most readers don’t distinguish between scientific research, a prototype, and an actual combat system—few people care. This isn’t a conspiracy, nor is it a “secret superweapon.” It’s just noise that arises at the intersection of complex science and simplified journalism. Or, as it’s usually called — simply “sensational headlines.”

The conclusion is simple

As of today, there is no proven and effective weapon against satellites or against Starlink that works over long distances. Rockets, lasers, cannons — all of them can, of course, do some damage to individual satellites, creating a pile of debris in the process. But when it comes to many thousands of satellites in low Earth orbit… We’re still a long way from theory to practice… And it’s veeeery expensive…

All the means of destruction hyped by the Kremlin in the media—such as “kinetic projectiles” or “nuclear detonations” in orbit—are like trying to shoot a swarm of insects with a shotgun when, right behind them and directly in front of the shooter, stand portraits of Xi Jinping and Donald Trump — you won’t kill the insects, but you’ll make enemies for life. Which, by the way, the Kremlin actually understands.

But the more time passes, the more we’ll see headlines like this, unfortunately. The topic of satellites and satellite communications is guaranteed to be a “hot” and top-tier issue for 2026-2027. And, of course, loud words travel much farther than any electromagnetic pulse.

You can also listen to the podcast about why “EM Weapons Against Starlink” are a myth.