China’s Ambitious Space Programs Raise Red Flags

China’s Ambitious Space Programs Raise Red Flags

Read more at National Defense

China is making progress with several space-related initiatives that are becoming a growing concern for the United States and its allies.
Pentagon officials have grown increasingly worried in recent years about the vulnerability of spacecraft to anti-satellite weapons as Beijing’s space programs continue to mature.

China recently designated space as a military domain, and official documents state that the goal of space warfare and operations is to achieve superiority using offensive and defensive means, according to a report released in April by the Secure World Foundation, a non-profit focused on secure and sustainable uses of outer space.

“China has recently reorganized its space and counterspace forces … and placed them in a new major force structure that also has control over electronic warfare and cyber,” said the report, “Global Counterspace Capabilities: An Open Source Assessment.” However, “it is uncertain whether China would fully utilize its offensive counterspace capabilities in a future conflict or whether the goal is to use them as a deterrent against U.S. aggression,” it added.