{"id":40600,"date":"2021-04-14T17:07:54","date_gmt":"2021-04-14T17:07:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2021\/04\/14\/china-aims-to-weaponize-space-says-intel-community-report\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T23:22:38","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T23:22:38","slug":"china-aims-to-weaponize-space-says-intel-community-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2021\/04\/14\/china-aims-to-weaponize-space-says-intel-community-report\/","title":{"rendered":"China aims to weaponize space, says intel community report"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2015 China is working to weaponize space<\/a> with an array of capabilities intended to target U.S. and allied satellites as part of its ambitious plans to displace the U.S. in space, the U.S. intelligence community warned in its new Global Risk Assessment report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence\u2019s report says that China\u2019s military, the People\u2019s Liberation Army, plans to \u201cmatch or exceed U.S. capabilities in space to gain the military, economic, and prestige benefits that Washington has accrued from space leadership.\u201d Those counter-space operations will be \u201cintegral to potential military campaigns by the PLA.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The broad-based report also highlights Russia\u2019s space capabilities and overall calls China \u201cthe top threat\u201d to U.S. technological competitiveness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asked about China\u2019s nascent constellation of 138 commercial Earth observation satellites at a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing Wednesday, ODNI Director Avril Haines affirmed they were part of China\u2019s challenge to American dominance. She declined to publicly discuss U.S. capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think there\u2019s just no question, as a general matter, that China is focused on achieving leadership in space, in fact, as compared to the United States and has been working hard on a variety of different efforts in this area to try to contest what has been presumed our leadership,\u201d Haines said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Haines told lawmakers the administration is working to help the policy community understand it supports the new Space Force\u2019s work to maintain American leadership in space and space\u2019s benefits economically, in communications, intelligence and national security.<\/p>\n\n\n\t