China is ramping up its space missions, planning more than 70 commercial and military launches this year. And while the Pentagon has been vocal about the apparent military threat that China’s rocket program poses to U.S. satellites, officials say China’s growing commercial space activities also pose a threat. there is

“There has been a long debate about state-owned enterprises, the viability of an independent commercial sector considering the laws in force in China, the need to maintain relations and, frankly, the need to contact the Chinese leadership in particular. There’s been a long debate about sex, about what’s going on and about those commercial enterprises,” Space Command Chief of Operations Maj. Gen. David Miller said Monday.

He said the United States should assume that Chinese satellites are a threat, whether for commercial or military purposes. His most obvious concerns are satellite weapons in space and the potential threat posed by China’s launch technology to destroy US satellites. Less obvious, but still a concern, is China’s and Russia’s future market share in space-based services such as satellite communications, positional navigation and timing, and space-based imagery.

Consider the role unclassified commercial space imagery played in preparing the world for a Russian invasion of Ukraine. Companies like Maxar and Planet Labs provided open source information that shaped public opinion and enabled the rapid passage of sanctions packages that undermine Russia’s war effort.

China is also getting into the earth imaging business, as evidenced by a new launch in December. Given China’s capabilities in generative adversarial networks and other AI tools suitable for image manipulation, it poses an information warfare threat given how important satellite imagery is to public understanding of geopolitical crises. Is not it?

It’s “not just what we think about, but what we observe, and it’s not just Russia or China,” said John Huth, Defense Intelligence Officer for Space and Counterspace at the Defense Intelligence Agency. defense one Said in an interview held at DIA headquarters in June.

“The bigger economic concern is fair competition, right? If your company is all state-backed, you have an advantage. mentioned China’s model of using the government to finance “private” companies with both commercial and military uses. This kind of model has given China an advantage in selling telecom equipment and services for 5G. Now, China is using this to forge partnerships in the AI ​​field with countries that don’t necessarily share geopolitical interests with China but prefer access to cheap technology.

“China is trying to sell its services to other countries. [communications] again [precision, navigation, and timing.] Besides, you know, they’ve had some success as part of the One Belt, One Road initiative…that is, in attracting other countries, and in some cases providing the up-front investment to attract them. Only time will tell how well these investments will work for those countries,” Huth said.

In the future, in-orbit services using satellites to refuel, repair, or move other satellites will be another area where commercial and military activities blur. This is also an area where the Chinese government is investing heavily and is already paying off.

Still, as long as the U.S. government can help establish companies, U.S. entrepreneurs can play a competitive role, said Gen. David Thompson, deputy chief of space operations, at the recent Defense One Tech Summit. Stated.

“There are some great capabilities out there, and I think there are more capabilities to come. I strongly believe in the unit design that we’ve been working with the public and others … this is an area of ​​investment for the Space Force going forward, we’re building it into future budgets, and we’re not quite there yet. We have considered the types very carefully.”