{"id":561946,"date":"2026-07-22T05:02:39","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T05:02:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/561946\/"},"modified":"2026-07-22T05:02:39","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T05:02:39","slug":"chinas-unique-high-orbit-satellite-is-using-a-rare-metal-the-us-struggles-to-obtain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/561946\/","title":{"rendered":"China\u2019s unique high-orbit satellite is using a rare metal the US struggles to obtain"},"content":{"rendered":"<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">A satellite that can provide 24\/7 surveillance of a third of the Earth\u2019s surface relies on a rare mineral whose global supply is dominated by China, a new study has disclosed.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">It orbits 36,000km (22,000 miles) above the Earth and is able to stay in what is known as a geosynchronous orbit, which keeps it fixed over the same spot.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">This allows it to monitor both large areas of the planet and moving targets \u2013 something the United States has spent decades trying to achieve without success.<\/p>\n<p>China has <a target=\"_self\" class=\"e1yy41x40 ef9u0v01 css-1ankfgb ecgc78b0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/economy\/china-economy\/article\/3344151\/chinas-gallium-grip-looms-over-trumps-beijing-visit-critical-deadline-nears?module=inline&amp;pgtype=article\" title=\"\" data-qa=\"BaseLink-renderAnchor-StyledAnchor\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">near-total dominance of the global supply of GaN<\/a> \u2013 a key component in active electronically scanned array radars, electronic warfare systems and next-generation defence platforms \u2013 and has restricted gallium exports since the satellite launched in August 2023.<\/p>\n<p>China restricts critical metal exports following Western semiconductor curbs in latest trade war<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">The metal is mainly extracted as a by-product of alumina production rather than mined independently and China, the world\u2019s largest aluminium producer, accounts for more than 95 per cent of global primary gallium production.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A satellite that can provide 24\/7 surveillance of a third of the Earth\u2019s surface relies on a rare&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":561947,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[225596,20680,61,60,237432,237433,237430,1389,187869,80,237431],"class_list":["post-561946","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","tag-gallium-nitride","tag-geosynchronous-orbit","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-journal-of-microwaves","tag-ludi-tance-01-radar-satellite","tag-national-key-laboratory-of-space-microwave-communication","tag-satellite","tag-synthetic-aperture-radar","tag-technology","tag-xian-institute-of-space-radio-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/561946","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=561946"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/561946\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/561947"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=561946"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=561946"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=561946"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}