CNN
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US military officials believe Russia and China are aggressively testing new offensive space capabilities, pointing to a series of satellite training missions conducted by both countries in recent months as growing evidence of an effort to weaponize outer space.
As recently as last week, Russian satellites were practicing “attack and defend tactics,” maneuvers intended to increase the proficiency of their space force, according to a US defense official.
US officials watched multiple Russian satellites work together to surround and isolate another satellite that was positioned in low-Earth orbit, demonstrating how they could potentially target enemy spacecraft in a future conflict, the official added.
Russia’s goal remains to put a nuclear weapon in space, the defense official said. Recent Russian satellite movements also suggest they are actively preparing for a potential armed conflict in space, the official added.
“Russia wants to take away our advantages in space and they don’t care about collateral damage,” the defense official said.
Last year, CNN reported on Russia’s effort to develop a space-based nuclear weapon that would use a massive energy wave, known as an electromagnetic pulse, to potentially knock out a large swath of commercial and government satellites.
In 2021, Russia also tested an anti-satellite missile that destroyed a Russian satellite, creating a massive debris field in space that forced astronauts on the International Space Station to scramble for safety.
China has carried out similar training exercises in space over the last year. In December, Beijing demonstrated advanced capabilities by maneuvering multiple satellites in close formation – raising concerns about potential military applications.
“They practiced attack approaches … those are advanced patrols and advanced tactics,” the official said.
These co-orbital satellites can directly hit another satellite or disable it, just one of a suite of such technologies that Beijing is developing. China is also developing anti-satellite missiles and directed-energy attacks that use lasers or similar systems to attack other satellites.
“This is a PLA space force that’s being built, trained and ready to seize the ultimate high ground” from the US, the defense official said.
China has already shown its rapidly advancing technological prowess in space. The test of a space-launched hypersonic missile in 2021 caught the US by surprise. The top US general at the time called it a “very significant technological event.”
US Space Force officials are focused on continuing to develop their own offensive and defensive space capabilities in an effort to ensure neither Russia or China can exploit mobility to gain a military advantage over American assets and conduct a “blitzkrieg” style attack, the official added.
“Mobility can lead to breakout,” the official said, pointing to how the Germans took away the mobility of enemy tanks during World War II.
The US still maintains an advantage over both Russia and China in space, the defense official noted, but both countries are developing new systems to enhance military effectiveness and end any reliance on American technology, according to US Space Force’s intelligence headquarters.
Trump touted the creation of the US Space Force during his first term in office but defense officials stress that increasing competition from Russia and China still poses a national security threat.
“US needs to be ready to do more than protect and defend in outer space. Stories about playing defense are stories about losing,” the defense official said.
The US, Russia and China are all signatories to the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, which bans weapons of mass destruction in space. But with growing concern of an outer space arms race, the treaty appears increasingly like a relic of the past. Last April, Russia vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that would have reaffirmed the opposition to nuclear weapons in outer space.
China, in particular, has rapidly improved space capabilities that can be used to track and target US military forces, according to US Space Force officials. As of December 2024, China had more than 1,060 satellites in orbit, second only to the United States.
US Space Force’s intelligence arm has determined that Beijing expects space will play an important role in future conflicts by enabling long-range precision strikes, according to the latest threat assessments.
In December 2024, China launched a remote sensing satellite that Space Force military officials say could allow it to persistently monitor US and allied forces in the Pacific region.
“Intelligence suggests the PLA likely sees counterspace operations as a means to deter and counter US military intervention in a regional conflict,” according to multiple US Space Force officials.
“Moreover, PLA academics stress the necessity of ‘destroying, damaging, and interfering with the enemy’s reconnaissance …and communications satellites’ to ‘blind and deafen the enemy,’” they added.
China conducted 66 successful space launches in 2024, placing 67 intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capable satellites into orbit, according to US Space Force Intelligence Headquarters.
