An analysis of the Financial Times indicates that Beijing is strengthening military capabilities in space – including technologies to capture or destroy satellites – in a context of growing rivalry with Washington.
Military manuals and dozens of studies linked to China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA), analyzed by Financial Timesreveal a strategy that ranges from close proximity operations between satellites to attacks on space infrastructure and, ultimately, targets on Earth.
“Today, looking at the skywe see that space is already shrouded in the smoke of a potential conflict,” wrote the Chinese military expert Jiang Lianju in a 2024 manual, cited by the British newspaper, adding that control of space offers “a powerful strategic and military incentive”.
The analysis indicates that powers such as USA, China and Russia have carried out approach operations between satellitesessential for maintenance, but also with offensive potentialin a dynamic that Washington has already classified as “close combat in space”.
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, the space domain has become central to modern military capabilitiesincluding communications, navigation and command systems, increasing the risk that a attack in orbit could paralyze critical infrastructure.
Howard Wangresearcher at the Washington-based think tank Rand, stated that the central concept of The PLA’s strategy involves reaching crucial points of the adversary’s network to “paralyze” decision-making along the entire chain of command, from data collection and transmission to its analysis and use.
Beijing has also invested in technologies such as lasers, electronic jamming and satellites capable of moving other objects to distant orbits, as well as in orbital refueling and capture systems.
In 2022, the Chinese satellite Shijian-21 used a robotic arm to tow an inactive satellite into a more distant orbit, a demonstration of capabilities that alarmed US military officials, according to the newspaper.
More recently, several Chinese satellites carried out coordinated maneuvers in geostationary orbit, in behavior compared by the United States to combat exercises.
The investigation also indicates that the Chinese military doctrine foresees different phases in a possible space conflictincluding deterrence operations such as public demonstrations of satellite capabilities or repositioning, space jamming, and attacks on adversary systems.
These operations may include electronic interference, cyber attacks or the use of directed energy weapons – aiming to degrade the adversary’s communication and command capabilities without provoking an immediate escalation.
At a more advanced stage, the scenarios studied by the ELP admit the direct destruction of satellites and even attacks on terrestrial infrastructure from spacereflecting a growing integration between the spatial and conventional domains.
The military space race is also accelerating in the low-orbit segment, where the proliferation of satellites, driven by constellations like the Starlinkis transforming the strategic environment.
According to Howard Wang, both Washington and Beijing seek to strengthen the resilience of their space systems by increasing the number of satellites to reduce vulnerability to targeted attacks.
A China plans to launch more than 37,000 new satellites by 2030in an attempt to secure a dominant position in this field and keep up with the advances of the United States.
“We are in an environment where no one has fought a war before. O The potential for something to go wrong very quickly is huge”, said a Western military official quoted by the Financial Times.
