US Intelligence: China Likely to Deploy Satellite Interception Weapons in Near Future

US intelligence authorities have analyzed that China could soon deploy weapon systems capable of intercepting satellites belonging to the United States and its allies in outer space.

As satellites—playing an increasingly vital role in modern reconnaissance and surveillance—exchange radio waves, lasers, and even nuclear attacks in space, projections suggest that a movie-like "Star Wars" scenario could become a reality.

In its report titled "Challenges to Security in Space" released on October 26, the US Department of Defense's Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) stated that China is expected to threaten satellites using space-based directed-energy weapons by the late 2020s.

The DIA explained that various methods are possible, ranging from firing lasers to bore holes into satellites or emitting high-power microwaves to fry satellite systems, to spraying aerosols on solar panels to disable them, or even detonating nuclear weapons.

Physical strikes are also feasible, such as satellite-on-satellite collisions, projectile-based interception, and maneuvering a satellite close to another to tamper with or damage it.

The DIA noted that China already possesses ground-based directed-energy weapons capable of jamming, degrading, or damaging satellite operations, meaning a dangerous new satellite interception capability is being added.

"The ongoing development of high-power ground-based systems and space-based systems could threaten not only traditional low Earth orbit satellites, but also those in higher orbits," the DIA expressed concern.

According to the DIA, China's intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance satellites exceeded 510 as of July this year, more than tripling in scale compared to 2018.

It pointed out that while many of these satellites are ostensibly civilian, China's military-civil fusion policy allows the People's Liberation Army to utilize them.

The DIA stated that China "has been researching aerospace engineering technologies related to space-based kinetic energy weapons through government-affiliated academics since at least 2006. These are the types of weapons used to strike targets on the ground, at sea, and in the air from orbit."

The DIA analyzed that if China targets reconnaissance, communication, navigation, and early-warning satellites to deter intervention by external forces such as the US, it is highly likely to weaken US intelligence-gathering and command-and-control capabilities in regional conflict scenarios such as the Taiwan Strait.

The DIA reported, "Russia currently also possesses the capability to target low Earth orbit satellites using both ground-based and orbit-based weapon systems, and is interested in developing weapon systems targeting satellites in more distant orbits."

If a "space war" among the US, China, and Russia becomes a reality, the unique nature of outer space makes it difficult to easily distinguish whether damage to a satellite stems from a simple malfunction or performance anomaly, or from an attack. With no obstacles in a vacuum, ranges are long, making it hard to identify the culprit or the point of origin.

In this regard, US military specialty media The War Zone reported that there is no evidence whether the unexpected breakup in January of a Russian inspection satellite launched in 2014, the breakup in orbit last July—four months after launch—of China's Yaogan 50-02 reconnaissance satellite, and last month's breakup of the US spy satellite Prowler III launched during the Cold War were all accidents or the result of hostile actions.

(Photo: Captured from Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) report, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.