How China is winning the military space race
China is developing
'breathtakingly fast', the United States has warned.
Gen Stephen Whiting, the top commander of the US Space Force (USSF), said China's use of space to complete its 'kill chain' – the process of identifying, tracking and attacking a target – had become 'very concerning'.
Space warfare capabilities are increasingly critical to the defence strategies of major powers.
The United States, China and Russia are locked in an arms race to develop space technology and Donald Trump's administration is planning a 'Golden Dome' network of space-based interceptors to block missiles fired towards the US.
Gen Whiting identified three areas of serious concern, where China has advanced rapidly: its space-based targeting system, its space counter-weapons and its integration of space capabilities with its conventional military.
Space-based targeting systems
Beijing's space-based targeting system, can be used to 'track and target US and allied forces in the Indo-Pacific', Gen Whiting told the Breaking Defence news outlet.
These systems can be used to support 'over-the-horizon' precision strikes on US military targets, he said.
Gen Anthony Mastalir, commander of USSF in the Indo-Pacific, has also previously said that China's long-range weapons, including those specifically aimed at targeting the US and its allies, 'depend on space'.
He added that space tech was how China 'closes its kill chain' and strikes its targets with precision.
By the end of last year, China had more than 500 satellites capable of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), according to the USSF.
In the last decade, Beijing has deployed nearly 900 satellites into orbit. Of the 260 launched last year, 67 were capable of ISR.
Earlier this year, Chinese scientists developed what was hailed as the world's most powerful satellite tracking camera, capable of capturing images with millimetre-level accuracy from over 100 kilometres away.
Counter-weapons and jamming
The second way in which China is moving quickly in space is through the development of counter-weapons, or weapons that destroy or jam other satellites, either launched from the ground or from space.
According to Gen Whiting, these include 'reversible cyber-attacks, Satcom [satellite communications] and GPS-jamming' as well as high-energy lasers, direct ascent anti-satellite (Da-Sat) rockets, missiles and co-orbital Asats. Asats are satellites put into orbit to threaten other satellites.
Da-Asat rockets are an important part of China's growing military arsenal in space.
As far back as 2008, China was known to have been capable of shooting down satellites with missiles launched from the ground. Over the last 20 years, it has conducted several such anti-satellite tests.
In March, the USSF said Chinese satellites were making controlled synchronised manoeuvres – satellites moving around each other in orbit while in formation.
Gen Michael A Guetlein, the deputy chief of US operations at the USSF, said at the time that this showed China was 'practising tactics, techniques, and procedures to do on-orbit space operations from one satellite to another'.
Beijing is known to have between one and three of these programmes, which can also be used to launch kinetic kill vehicles (a weapon based solely on its own kinetic energy) to target objects in space, or co-ordinate collisions.
Destroying satellites in orbit puts other satellites at risk by creating debris fields, but jamming can be used to break down capabilities without creating hazards.
Jamming technology targets the electronic link between a satellite and its user, putting it out of action without destroying it.
Experts have previously warned that the US would be underprepared for attacks involving GPS jamming or 'spoofing', which is when a GPS receiver is manipulated or misled.
These technologies can be used to disable munitions, redirect drones and missiles and shut down critical infrastructures.
Integration with conventional forces
The final area of concern for the US, said Gen Whiting, is China's integration of space capabilities into its conventional army, air force and navy.
Gen Whiting said that in 'using space-enabled services' Beijing has made its armed forces ' more lethal, more precise and more far-ranging '.
During a major strategic overhaul in 2016, China's military, the People's Liberation Army, added a military aerospace unit to its Strategic Support Force, which was established to oversee 'information-ised conflicts'.
In April 2024, the force was split into three independent units: a dedicated aerospace force, a cyberspace army and an information support arm.
All this suggests that China is catching up with America. While the US is estimated to have around 8,000 satellites in space, compared with China's 1,000, each nation has about 250 military satellites.
In March, Gen Guetlein said: 'There used to be a significant capability gap between the United States and our adversaries, driven by our technological advantage. That gap, once massive, has narrowed considerably.
'If we don't change our approach to space operations, we risk seeing that gap reverse, putting us at a disadvantage.'
In May, the US signalled a renewed focus on space-based weapons with the announcement of Mr Trump's golden dome project.
The $175 billion (£147 billion) proposal aims to create a network of satellites by 2029 that will detect, track and shoot down missiles fired at the US.
This system would probably only cover the US. Should America and China be drawn into a conflict, in Taiwan for example, China could not only have home advantage, but the advantage in space as well.
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