US Space Force Commander General Chance Saltzman said the United States is concerned that China is building up its military potential in space at a “staggering pace. ”
“The number of different categories of space weapons that [China] has developed and the speed at which it has done so poses a major threat,” the military leader said during a European trip.
Saltzman noted that the U.S. Space Force was created in 2019 after China and Russia developed their weapons and “demonstrated the ability to conduct warfighting in space.”
As part of large-scale military reforms in 2015, Chinese President Xi Jinping combined space, information, and cyber warfare operations under the Strategic Support Force, a new arm of the People’s Liberation Army.
Both Russia and China have tested satellites with capabilities that include grappling hooks to pull other satellites out of orbit and “kinetic kill vehicles” that can target satellites and long-range ballistic missiles in space, as reported by the FT.
