Space Force official warns: China has been ‘dogfighting’ with satellites

China has been practicing dog-fighting maneuvers with its satellites in space, a senior U.S. Space Force official said Tuesday.

Vice Chief of Space Operations Gen. Michael Guetlein, speaking at the annual McAleese Defense Programs Conference in Washington, D.C., warned of China’s burgeoning space capabilities. According to Guetlein, China had at least five different objects in space seen to be “practicing tactics, techniques, and procedures to do on-orbit space operations,” Defense One reported Tuesday.

Guetlein also added that the comparative capability of the US in space with its adversaries has “narrowed” considerably.

“With our commercial assets, we have observed five different objects in space maneuvering in and out and around each other in synchronicity and in control,” Guetlein said during the McAleese Defense Programs Conference in Washington. “That’s what we call dogfighting in space. They are practicing tactics, techniques and procedures to do on-orbit space operations from one satellite to another.”

The Space Force has confirmed that Guetlein was referencing Chinese satellite maneuvers in 2024, involving three Shiyan-24C experimental satellites and two Chinese experimental space objects, the Shijian-6 05A/B. He also said that the Chinese satellites possess grappling technology, which would enable them to hold other objects in orbit hostage. He also stated that they have developed devices to block U.S. satellites from transmitting data.

“We’re only going to be as good as the amount of resources that we’re willing to put towards space superiority,” Guetlein said during the conference.

The Space Force and Air Force have made calls to increase the U.S. presence in space to ensure “continued supremacy” in the theatre of war. For fiscal year 2025, the Space Force requested $29.6 billion, an increase of $690 million from 2024.

China has made a concerted effort to increase its foothold among the stars, announcing plans in 2023 to double the size of its space station, according to Reuters. Most recently on Mar. 13, China launched 18 satellites into orbit as part of its “Thousand sails” satellite internet project, aimed to rival SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s Starlink technology.

The Space Force did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

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