Space Force General Details Daily Attacks By China, Russia On US Satellites

A general with the U.S. Space Force has warned that American satellites are subject to daily attacks by China and Russia that could be viewed as “acts of war.”

What Happened: In an interview with Washington Post columnist Josh Rogin, Gen. David Thompson, vice chief of space operations for the new military branch, accused the Chinese and Russians of using lasers, radiofrequency jammers and cyberattacks against U.S. satellites.

“The threats are really growing and expanding every single day,” Thompson said. “And it’s really an evolution of activity that’s been happening for a long time. We’re really at a point now where there’s a whole host of ways that our space systems can be threatened.”

While Thompson would not comment on whether a U.S. military satellite received any damage from these attacks, he stated the Chinese military’s use of ground-based systems for space-based conflict could be considered as an act of war.

“The Chinese are actually well ahead [of Russia],” Thompson said. “They're fielding operational systems at an incredible rate.”

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Why It Happened: China’s activities could be attributed to information obtained by U.S. military satellites that identified Chinese nuclear missile silo fields and the locations of concentration camps that imprison the nation’s Uyghur Muslims. As for the Russians, Thompson confirmed a 2019 incident when Russia had a satellite orbiting so close to a U.S. “national security satellite” that the Pentagon was uncertain if an attack was underway. The Russian satellite backed away and conducted a weapons test.

“It maneuvered close, it maneuvered dangerously, it maneuvered threateningly so that they were coming close enough that there was a concern of collision,” Thompson said. “So clearly, the Russians were sending us a message.”

Thompson predicted that the Chinese could surpass the U.S. presence in space if the situation is not addressed.

“We are still the best in the world, clearly in terms of capability,” he added. “They're catching up quickly. We should be concerned by the end of this decade if we don't adapt.”

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