Paper
Ashley J. Tellis
{
"authors": [
"Ashley J. Tellis"
],
"type": "testimony",
"centerAffiliationAll": "dc",
"centers": [
"Carnegie Endowment for International Peace"
],
"collections": [],
"englishNewsletterAll": "asia",
"nonEnglishNewsletterAll": "",
"primaryCenter": "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
"programAffiliation": "AP",
"programs": [
"Asia"
],
"projects": [],
"regions": [
"China"
],
"topics": [
"Military",
"Foreign Policy",
"Nuclear Policy"
]
}
Source: Getty
Testimony
China's Space Capabilities and Their Impact on U.S. National Security
China’s current military space program is oriented towards exploiting space to the advantage of its conventional military operations, denying space to superior adversaries, and preparing for struggles over space control by integrating space into its own military operations and, as required, developing its own space-related deterrent and warfighting capabilities.
Published on May 20, 2008
Source: Testimony before the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission
China’s military space capabilities presently are manifested in five distinct areas: (i) space launch capabilities; (ii) the TT&C network; (iii) space orbital systems; (iv) connectivity to military operations; and (v) counterspace technologies. When combined with its access to foreign platforms or services, these indigenous systems provide China’s military forces with sufficient supporting capabilities today within its borders or at some distance around them. The new SIGINT/ELINT platforms, electro-optical and SAR imagery satellites, and dedicated data relay satellites, likely to be launched within the next decade will enable the PLA to expand its battlespace awareness and targeting capabilities tremendously, support its regional presence and projection operations in East and Southeast Asia and in the Indian Ocean, and fill the missing links required to complete its area and access denial strategy vis-à-vis the United States across the entire western Pacific. The maturation of China’s space and counterspace capabilities thus reflect the larger challenges facing the United States as it reacts to the rise of Chinese power. How well Washington responds to this development will determine not only its future capacity to dominate the high ground but also a variety of outcomes terrestrially.
The full text of the written testimony is available to the left.
About the Author
Ashley J. Tellis
Former Senior Fellow
Ashley J. Tellis was a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
- Multipolar Dreams, Bipolar Realities: India’s Great Power Future
- India Sees Opportunity in Trump’s Global Turbulence. That Could Backfire.Commentary
Ashley J. Tellis
Recent Work
Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.
More Work from Carnegie Europe
- Time to Merge the Commission and EEASCommentary
The EU is structurally incapable of reacting to today’s foreign policy crises. The union must fold the EEAS into the European Commission and create a security council better prepared to take action on the global stage.
Stefan Lehne
- Russia’s Imperial Retreat Is Europe’s Strategic OpportunityCommentary
The war in Ukraine is costing Russia its leverage overseas. Across the South Caucasus and Middle East, this presents an opportunity for Europe to pick up the pieces and claim its own sphere of influence.
William Dixon, Maksym Beznosiuk
- Europe and the Arab Gulf Must Come TogetherCommentary
The war in Iran proves the United States is now a destabilizing actor for Europe and the Arab Gulf. From protect their economies and energy supplies to safeguarding their territorial integrity, both regions have much to gain from forming a new kind of partnership together.
Rym Momtaz
- Taking the Pulse: Is France’s New Nuclear Doctrine Ambitious Enough?Commentary
French President Emmanuel Macron has unveiled his country’s new nuclear doctrine. Are the changes he has made enough to reassure France’s European partners in the current geopolitical context?
Rym Momtaz, ed.
- The Iran War’s Dangerous Fallout for EuropeCommentary
The drone strike on the British air base in Akrotiri brings Europe’s proximity to the conflict in Iran into sharp relief. In the fog of war, old tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean risk being reignited, and regional stakeholders must avoid escalation.
Marc Pierini
