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China’s Satellite Maneuvers Signal Rising Space Defense Threats

Defence Technology

Business Honor
19 March, 2025

Advanced Chinese satellites showcase evolving space warfare tactics, challenging U.S. defense strategies.

China's space technology advancements have also been of interest to U.S. defense planners, particularly the nation's burgeoning capability to execute satellite maneuvers. Vice Chief of Space Operations Gen. Michael Guetlein revealed that commercial networks have seen Chinese satellites practicing complex "dogfighting" moves in low Earth orbit, exhibiting remarkable advancement in space warfare tactics.

Five Chinese satellites—three Shiyan-24C experimental spacecraft and two Shijian-605 A and B satellites—conducted coordinated maneuvers, displaying controlled proximity operations. Such maneuvers imply the establishment of on-orbit engagement strategies, a key element of contemporary space operations. The Shijian-6 systems, suspected to be signals intelligence missions, also demonstrate China's ability to carry out surveillance and possible counterspace operations.

These developments follow earlier concerns about adversaries' advances in space technology. Russia's 2019 "nesting doll" operation, in which a satellite released a smaller spacecraft to perform close-range operations around an American satellite, presented another instance of new threats in orbit. The increasing maturity of near-peer competitors highlights a narrowing capability gap in space supremacy, leading the U.S. Space Force to boost its own strategic countermeasures.

Guetlein underlined that the Space Force's main purpose is to gain supremacy in space and ensure national security assets are protected while securing operational dominance. The recent revelations confirm the necessity of space-based defense technology advances, such as satellite robustness, counterspace capabilities, and rapid response.

While space powers increasingly refine space warfare planning, stronger space situational awareness and defenses will become critical to prevent looming threats. The United States Space Force continues its steadfast dedication to ensuring that its space forces counter incoming threats as robustly as they continue to command an expanding domain of ever-contested space.