US Needs to Shift Space Policy to Protect Satellites From Chinese Threat, Government Panel Hears
Federal officials and private sector stakeholders warned the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission Thursday about the Chinese government's intense interest in becoming a leading space power. They recommended a change in federal strategy to protect against the corresponding threat to U.S. satellite interests. House Armed Services Committee member Jim Cooper, D-Tenn., recently raised concerns via a Center for Strategic and International Studies report that China and other countries had surpassed the U.S. in deploying anti-satellite technologies (see 1904040007). There's widespread debate how the U.S. can eclipse China in the race for dominance over 5G (see 1904090075).
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President Donald Trump's administration's glad of a shift toward the government's being able to have a discussion “about the seriousness of having a strategy” to protect U.S. satellite and other space interests against the threat posed by China and others, said Assistant Secretary of the Air Force-Acquisition, Technology and Logistics William Roper. “Countries like China have already demonstrated their intention to escalate hostilities into space. China is developing anti-satellite missiles and lasers that will be fully operational within a few years.”
The U.S. should be prepared for a “continual evolution” of laws and regulations to remain competitive against China and elsewhere, Roper said. Laws like those governing the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. are “not as relevant in this century,” though the Trump administration is committed to implementing the changes to CFIUS included in 2018's Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act. Revisions to laws will need to balance giving “us access to the global supply chain” while also “trying to create a level playing field,” he said.
The U.S. won't be able to use the Cold War model of blocking off a bad actor to neutralize it as a threat, in part because the supply chain has become too globalized and it “doesn't appear that we can reverse that,” Roper said. The focus should instead be on developing new models that factor in the potential for some components in satellites and other space technologies having vulnerabilities. The best countermove is to design systems “able to defend themselves” and “have tricks up their sleeve” to counteract potential vulnerabilities, he said.
Roper and former Joint Chiefs of Staff Vice Chairman James Cartwright believe U.S. space policy needs to involve more use of public-private partnerships, to improve U.S. ability to stay in deploying technology. Cartwright, now at CSIS, said the U.S. should pay attention to “cislunar space” -- the area occupied by the Moon's orbit -- as a strategic high ground from which the government can best observe all objects in Earth's orbit. Not having a “good command-and-control architecture” at that vantage point “will tremendously disadvantage us” when dealing with potential threats, he said.
Secure World Foundation Director-Program Planning Brian Weeden said the U.S. space governance framework is “not sufficient” to deal with the trends and challenges posed by China and others. He cited democratization of space capabilities and technologies as a major reason a strategy shift is needed, along with growth in the commercial space sector and rising military space capabilities. China is also continuing to comply with all major international space treaties and there's no “strong evidence” it plans to break those rules in the future, Weeden said.
Analyst Namrata Goswami was among those who noted the scope of China's space ambitions. “China intends to be the [top] space power by 2045,” Goswami said. “This goal is comprehensive in scope,” including being the top economic power in space industries. The U.S. is still ahead of China “in many areas” of space tech despite that country making significant advances in recent years, said CSIS Aerospace Security Project and Defense Budget Analysis Director Todd Harrison. “Much of what China has achieved has been in space programs that are not inherently military, although many of the component technologies can be dual-use."