Space Force officials warn China and Russia have militarized space domain for over decade

China and Russia have been militarizing space with anti-satellite weaponry for more than a decade, and the U.S. should move more quickly to develop advanced defensive and offensive capabilities in the futuristic domain. Here’s what you need to know about the space militarization warnings:

The 2015 turning point

China declared space a war-fighting domain:

• “Fundamental shift” came in 2015 when China “declared space a war-fighting domain”
• Robert Lightfoot, president of Lockheed Martin Space, spoke at Aspen Security Forum Wednesday
• “When they did that, they actually changed the narrative”
• Previously everything built was “to support things that are happening here on Earth”

The vulnerability problem

Current U.S. satellites lack protection:

• Network of current U.S. satellites “vulnerable because when they were first designed and built…there was no threat in space”
• Retired Space Force Lt. Gen. Nina Armagno appeared on Wednesday’s panel
• For decades, U.S. enjoyed “luxury” of not worrying about urgent space threats
• “We don’t have that luxury anymore” according to Armagno

The 2007 demonstration

China’s anti-satellite missile test changed everything:

• “Russia and China have built weapons and deployed them in space all the way back to 2007”
• China launched anti-satellite missile that “destroyed one of their own defunct weather satellites”
• Incident resulted in “thousands of pieces of debris”
• Community initially called it irresponsible but realized “This was a statement”

The expanded threat capabilities

China and Russia can now reach higher orbits:

• Originally demonstration was in low earth orbit
• “Today, they can reach geosynchronous Earth orbit, which is 23,000 miles above the Earth’s surface”
• “Russia [and] China have ground-based anti-satellite missiles”
• “In space, they can attack our satellites”

The multiple attack vectors

Various ways adversaries can target U.S. space assets:

• “Ways to attack our ground control stations”
• “We’re vulnerable to cyber attacks in space”
• “Everything is connected from the satellite…to the ground segment”
• “User equipment is your iPhone. All of those connections are vulnerable”

The Space Force response

Military branch established to protect domain:

• “The threat is real” according to Armagno
• U.S. Space Force “came into existence during the first Trump administration in 2019”
• Service “established to protect and defend the domain”
• Space Force budget grew substantially initially but has been “flat” in recent years

The Trump administration boycott

Current administration ordered military officials not to attend forum:

• Trump administration “ordered high-level U.S. military officials, who had been slated to appear, not to attend”
• Defense Department spokesperson said forum values “do not align with the values of the DoD”
• Pentagon spokesperson said forum promotes “globalism”
• Space Force Gen. Stephen Whiting replaced at last minute by retired Gen. Timothy Ray

The Golden Dome proposal

Trump pushes space-based missile defense system:

• Ray threw support behind Trump’s “Golden Dome” missile defense shield
• Response to growing ballistic missile and nuclear weapons threats from China and Russia
• Also addresses threats from “rogue actors such as North Korea and Iran”
• “It’s going to be key to our survival” according to Ray

The funding requirements

Massive investment needed for missile defense:

• Trump “already requested $25 billion for development of the Golden Dome”
• Administration indicated system development “will cost at least $175 billion”
• “Remains to be seen which agency within the Defense Department will operate the system”
• Space Force budget currently about 3% of DoD’s roughly $850 billion budget

The workforce challenge

China graduating more engineers than U.S.:

• Past decade has seen China “advance dramatically in the space domain”
• China “increased the number of satellites they have for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance by 500%”
• “China’s graduating ridiculously more engineers than we are”
• “How do we excite the next generation…to science, technology, engineering, math? That’s drying up”

The Aspen Forum context

Annual gathering faces political controversy:

• Comments came during opening panel of Aspen Security Forum
• Annual event organizers tout as bipartisan or nonpartisan
• Features top military and foreign policy officials traditionally
• Organizers “privately vented frustration” over Trump administration boycott

Read more:

• China changed narrative by weaponizing space, leading U.S. contractor says