China’s Orbital Aggression: Space War Escalates

International Space Station orbiting above Earth.

China’s satellites are now practicing ‘dogfighting’ maneuvers in orbit, directly threatening America’s space dominance and national security in ways that demand urgent action from President Trump’s administration.

Story Highlights

U.S. Space Force Gen. Michael Guetlein revealed China conducted synchronized ‘dogfighting’ with five satellites in 2024, observed by commercial trackers.
These maneuvers enable China to track, inspect, or disable U.S. satellites during conflicts, eroding America’s edge.
Activity signals accelerating space militarization, challenging the 1967 Outer Space Treaty’s peaceful-use principles.
President Trump’s Space Force must counter this to protect critical U.S. assets vital for military superiority and everyday American life.

Space Force Exposes Chinese Satellite Dogfighting

On March 18, 2025, at the McAleese Defense Programs Conference in Washington, D.C., U.S. Space Force Vice Chief Gen. Michael Guetlein disclosed commercial space data showing five Chinese objects maneuvering in synchronicity around each other in low Earth orbit. Space Force labels this ‘dogfighting in space.’ The exercise involved three Shiyan-24C experimental satellites and two Shijian-6 05A/B spacecraft conducting rendezvous and proximity operations in 2024. Guetlein highlighted this as preparation for on-orbit operations that could target U.S. satellites in conflict.

Guetlein emphasized adversaries operate in unsafe, unprofessional ways, violating international norms. This revelation comes amid Space Force budget debates and congressional scrutiny of counterspace threats. Commercial space-situational-awareness providers tracked the activity, proving private firms now monitor great-power tactics. President Trump’s leadership prioritizes space superiority, rejecting past administrations’ complacency on Chinese aggression.

Historical Precedents of Space Aggression

China’s 2007 direct-ascent anti-satellite test destroyed its FY-1C weather satellite, creating massive debris and demonstrating kinetic capabilities. From 2013-2018, Shijian and Shiyan satellites executed complex maneuvers assessed as dual-use for military inspection or interference. In 2019, Russia’s ‘nesting doll’ satellite stalked a U.S. asset, deemed unsafe by officials. Russia’s 2021 ASAT test generated thousands of debris pieces, drawing global condemnation. These events trace a pattern of escalating counterspace investments by China, Russia, and others.

The 1967 Outer Space Treaty bans weapons of mass destruction in orbit but permits conventional weapons and military satellites. Cold War-era U.S.-Soviet programs laid groundwork, but recent advances crowd orbits with mega-constellations and cheap tracking. China’s strategy pursues ‘space great power’ status, integrating co-orbital systems for approaching adversary assets. U.S. Space Force, established in 2019, frames space as a warfighting domain requiring superiority.

2022 Encounter Signals Real Confrontations

In 2022, U.S. GSSAP satellite US-270 approached China’s Shiyan-12-01/02 in geosynchronous orbit. China detected the approach, processed data, decided tactically, and executed counter-maneuvers within one day using its own satellites. Kratos analysis describes this sophisticated chain as pre-dogfighting interaction, with no physical contact but clear maneuver warfare. U.S. officials warn of Chinese grappler arms and robotic servicers with offensive potential. Multiple unacknowledged cat-and-mouse episodes involve shadowing at close range.

China’s People’s Liberation Army Strategic Support Force oversees these programs, with Shiyan and Shijian series officially experimental but viewed by U.S. analysts as military tools. The U.S. leads overall but China closes the gap ‘concerningly fast,’ per officials. Both sides claim defensive intent while accusing the other of destabilizing militarization. Commercial actors add transparency by publishing evidence.

Implications Demand Strong U.S. Response

Short-term, Chinese rendezvous capabilities risk U.S. satellites via inspection, jamming, or interference in gray-zone operations. This bolsters U.S. calls for robust defenses and proliferated constellations to avoid single failures. Long-term, it sparks an arms race in inspector and bodyguard satellites, heightening crisis misperception risks, like over Taiwan. Debris from collisions threatens global services including communications, navigation, and weather reliant on space.

No public evidence shows physical satellite attacks, but demonstrations build capabilities for rapid detection and reaction. President Trump’s Space Force invests in maneuverable assets, enhanced tracking, and doctrines for contested environments. Military operators plan for degraded space; commercial firms face higher costs; civilians risk disruptions to finance, transport, and emergencies. Strategic rivalry intensifies, underscoring the need to maintain American superiority against communist expansion.