China has launched four supersecretos satellites since March. We don’t know anything about them except for four Buddhist gods

China continues strengthening their military positions In space. Almost always discreetly, but lately he has played the mystery. Surely there is someone in the Pentagon thoroughly investigating the deities of Buddhism.

Context. Until recently, the patches of Chinese space missions did not stand out for their originality. They used to follow a fairly formulist design: circular shapes, a mixture of red and blue, and national symbols. But something is changing. We saw it with the patch of the last Shenzhou manned mission to the Tiangong Space Station, which He broke the mold With a triangular form.

Now Ars Technica He has put the focus on four intriguing patches linked to four ultrasect satellite launches. These emblems have an artistic quality and colors that contrast with previous designs. They represent the four celestial kings of Buddhism. And this is where the thing gets interesting.

The four heavenly kings. Since March, China has put in orbit four secret satellites with the names of these Buddhist gods. According to tradition, the four celestial kings are protective deities that guard the four cardinal points against the forces of evil and protect the dharma, the teachings of Buddha. The question is whether their names give a clue about the purpose of the satellites or the Chinese are playing the mistake.

In China, the four celestial kings are known as: Duōwén Tiānwáng, Northern Guardian, “the God who hears everything,” represented with an umbrella. Zēngzhǎng tiānwáng, South Guardian, “The god of growth”, bearer of a sword. Tiānwáng, Eastern Guardian, “the defender of the nation”, which holds a rope musical instrument. Guăngmù tiānwáng, western guardian, “the God who sees everything,” represented with a snake.

The four secret satellites. Coinciding with this iconography, China has launched four military satellites to the geostationary orbit, almost 36,000 kilometers above Ecuador, where they can remain fixed on the same region of the planet. The four ships have been cataloged generic like Tongxin Jishu Shiyan, “communications technology test satellites.”

The TJS-15 took off on March 9 aboard a CZ-3B rocket; His patch represents GuĂngmù, the west guardian. The TJS-16 was released on March 29 with a rocket a CZ-7A; His emblem is Chíguó, the Eastern Guardian. The TJS-17 was released on April 10 with another CZ-3B; His patch corresponds to Duōwén, the northern guardian. Finally, the TJS-19 took off on May 12 (jumping to TJS-18 in the sequence) with a CZ-3C; His patch represents Zēngzhǎng, the South Guardian.

Do your names say something? Although NASA considers them “Satellites for probable military purposes”, their names give rise to all kinds of additional conjectures. A god “who hears everything” with an umbrella can be a metaphor for a large drop -down antenna to capture weak signals, which would fit with a spying system or early missile alert.

It is also possible that the Chinese authorities have approved these patches without major background or to divert attention to the real purposes of the satellites. What we do know is that these satellites did not travel alone. Terrestrial trackers have detected objects that seem to have separated from TJS-15 and TJS-17 in geosynchronous orbit. They could be sub-satellites or simply rocket stages.

Militarization of space. The United States’s space force does not take an eye on these satellites. According to Comspocone of the satellites inspectors of the space force of the GSSAP program, known as USA-324, performed approximation maneuvers to TJS-16 and TJS-17 at the end of April. The American satellite approached about 17 km from the TJS-16 and about 12 km from TJS-17, “taking a look” to its new neighbors about the Western Pacific.

This cat and mouse game is just one more sample of the revitalized militarization of space, where the Trump administration wants Build an unprecedented antimisile shield called “Golden Dome”. One of the proposals is partially based on Spacex Starlink satellites for missile detection and cost $ 175,000 million.

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