China’s ‘mind-boggling’ space capabilities worry US, says Space Force chief

China’s rapid development of space-based military systems is more concerning to Washington than possible Russian space nuclear weapons, U.S. Space Force chief General B. Chance Saltzman told POLITICO.
“The pace with which they put counterspace capabilities into play is mind-boggling,” Saltzman said in an interview, referring to systems deployed against satellites and spacecraft. He added it is “concerning” that Beijing is launching “hundreds of satellites” as part of a targeting system that can be used to aid missions on Earth.
Saltzman said attention has often focused on Russia and its development of a kind of space nuclear weapon as the “closest alligator to the boat” when it comes to European security, but the bigger challenge is posed by China.
“The volume of threats, the diversity of threats that [China] is presenting is a particular challenge,” he said. “But Russia is a very capable space-faring nation, and they’ve invested heavily in counterspace as well.”
Both Beijing and Moscow are working together on a moon station, and have recruited countries such as Egypt, South Africa, Thailand and Pakistan into an initiative that is a direct rival to the U.S. Artemis lunar program.
The Space Force was set up 2019 to treat space as a military theater alongside the traditional branches of air, sea, land and cyber. However, building a new branch of the military isn’t easy, Saltzman said. “We underestimated what it was going to take to build a service level organization,” he said.
The Space Force is developing systems to protect expensive satellites and to deter rival states from using any space-based systems in case of a conflict. One example of such a threat is a laser that can be used to dazzle optical satellite sensors with light. Snooping on satellite comms is also a big problem, while GPS-signal jamming has caused disruption in the Baltics.
This year, the U.S. Space Force has a budget of $29 billion on top of NASA’s $27.2 billion. That means U.S. government-funded space programs are far ahead of what Europe is able to do between the various spending programs of national governments, the European Space Agency and the European Union.
Some European countries, such as France, the U.K. and Germany, are also setting up space branches of their militaries — but on a much smaller scale than Washington’s effort.
The U.S. sees such plans as something that can boost the Western alliance. Saltzman has brought in Paul Godfrey, who used to run the United Kingdom’s Space Command, as an assistant chief of space operations to manage international cooperation.
Godfrey’s job is to help build out platforms for collaboration like the Combined Space Operations initiative, or CSpO, which includes the Five Eyes intelligence allies alongside France, Germany, Italy, Norway and Japan to discuss space defense.
“It is all about aligning this as we all stand up space commands and look to develop similar, compatible, integrated capabilities in the future,” said Godfrey, speaking at NATO headquarters alongside Saltzman in Brussels on Thursday.