The country is seeking to become the king of satellite navigation and replace America’s GPS with its own BeiDou system – allegedly to spy on its users – and could “easily” be arming its space station.
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China is believed to be capable of destroying other countries’ space assets, including satellites, by ramming its satellites into them.
The past 20 years have seen the country grow in the space arena from “nothing” to one of the world’s most formidable space powers.
It is now preparing to expand its permanent space station Tiangong and has launched an uncrewed lunar mission which aims to bring back samples from the Moon’s “dark side” for the first time in history.
New photographs of the Chang’e-6 mission appeared to show a secret “undisclosed” rover strapped to the side of the lander.
More on the new space race
Former British Defence and Foreign Minister Tobias Ellwood said China is also advancing its satellite-based radio navigation system, BeiDou, spelling trouble for the UK and other Western nations.
He also explains that China could easily wipe out GPS around the globe – bringing the world grinding to a halt.
Countries have become heavily reliant on GPS to carry out everyday tasks such as banking transactions or tracking planes – and without it, many industries would not be able to function.
He told The Sun: “This is worrying. When BeiDou is more extensive, more operational, many of the countries that do business with China will be obliged to use that system, away from GPS.
“It’s an element of soft power that China is using which is very concerning.”
China’s $10billion (£8billion) BeiDou network of 35 satellites seeks to displace the US government-owned Global Positioning System (GPS) as the world’s dominant satnav system and increase its influence on the nations that use it.
GPS is so crucial to life on Earth that an entire branch of the US military is tasked with keeping it online.
The National Space-Based Positioning, Navigation and Timing Advisory Board – which provides advice to the US government on GPS policy – warned following a meeting in November 2022 that “GPS’s capabilities are now substantially inferior to those of China’s BeiDou.”
BeiDou is an alternative to Russia‘s GLONASS and the European Galileo systems, as well as America’s GPS.
Experts say BeiDou becoming the dominant global satnav service will erode US political and economic influence – and increase China’s influence – in future trade, diplomatic, or military disputes.
Countries that use BeiDou might be more vulnerable to intimidation, as China could threaten to cut off their access to the service.
But the US is also concerned China could use BeiDou to spy on its users, spacenews.com reports.
The full extent of the danger China presents as a major space power is not yet known, but Mr Ellwood said the nation is operating a space station “which could easily be armed”.
He told The Sun: “And they’ve already got robots on the far side of the Moon, which is problematic for anybody wanting to scrutinise what they’re up to because we can’t see it.”
Mr Ellwood added: “The thing is, we simply don’t know (the threat).
“What we do recognise is that space has become the ultimate high ground.
“You own the geostationary orbit and you’re then able to dominate everything that happens below, every part of our life including our security relies on GPS – how missiles move through the air, how our aeroplanes move, even the movement of finances.
“And if you’re able to close that down, if you’re able to shut down the GPS constellations, then you can easily cause such a massive economic harm as to bring our country to a standstill… It’s OK Corral up there, it really is.”
China has “kamikaze satellites” that can orbit other satellites and send infrared signals to “fry” those belonging to enemies, as well as aircraft that can fire missiles at satellites from high altitudes.
It is a “well-kept secret” that about 30 per cent of the world’s small satellites are produced in the UK, Mr Ellwood said, yet space remains an “entire arena of warfare that we’ve not really got our heads around”.
He said: “Were we to go toe to toe against another peer nation, such as China or Russia, that would really be where the first military engagements of any severity would take place because it is so critical for everything that happens underneath.
“That is why China is investing so much.”
The US government spent about $73billion (£59billion) on its space programs last year, followed by China’s government which spent more than $14billion (£11billion) on space programs, reports Statista.
Russia, meanwhile, has a secret testbed in space it is using to develop an “indiscriminate” nuclear-armed anti-satellite weapon, according to a senior US government official.
The chilling warning came this week, days after another official warned Congress that the anti-satellite weapon could be capable of rendering low Earth orbit completely “unusable”, TWZ reports.
As China and Russia allegedly develop and test technologies to be used in space for military purposes, the UK must consider how it will protect and defend its crucial assets.
Mr Ellwood said: “[We must] be able to protect our own satellites and we track our satellites very carefully to prevent any errant behaviour interfering with what’s going on, but that is increasingly difficult because of the congestion of states.
“Then there is making sure that we can defend, that we can attack other satellites.
“The third element is actually to introduce international laws on the conduct in space, and nobody’s willing to sit down around the table and clarify what they may be.”
UK Space Command personnel are constantly monitoring space “to protect the UK’s interests”.
Russia, China, the US, and the UK are among 115 countries that are parties to the Outer Space Treaty of 1967, which represents a basic legal framework of international space law.
It’s only a matter of time before we see serious weapons systems – whether they be lasers, missiles, even nuclear weapons – move into the space arena
Tobias Ellwood
A core principle of the treaty is that signatories do not place nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction in orbit – or station them in outer space in any other manner.
To do so would have dire consequences for every nation as a strike would impact all nations’ satellites.
Executive Director of The Henry Jackson Society Dr Alan Mendoza said a country such as Russia or China might look to place a nuclear weapon in orbit to increase its threat capacity.
He told The Sun: “(They would be saying,) ‘Don’t mess with us when we interfere internationally, because if you do, there’s a danger that we will utilise a nuclear assault in space, and we’ll use that as part of our arsenal to damage you.'”
Dr Mendoza explained that if there was a nuclear detonation in space, an electromagnetic pulse would “knock out” satellites everywhere.
He said: “The consequences would be devastating if you think about every single infrastructure and development that we have today.
“It’s all controlled by computers, it’s all controlled by the connectivity the satellites help provide.
“This would have severe repercussions on everyday life.”
There would be no way a power could target a nuclear weapon on a particular satellite, he said, so all satellites within a certain radius would be impacted by a detonation.
As per the Royal Air Force, “Disruption to the UK’s use of space, or the use of space by the UK’s allies, could significantly affect civilian, commercial, and defence activity.”
Mr Ellwood said the 1967 agreement is “well out of date” considering the rapid advancement of global powers’ space programs and Mars and lunar exploration capabilities.
The ex-soldier said: “It’s now very difficult, given that you’ve got countries that are pursuing dual-use operations and are mining on the far side of the Moon.
“And it’s only a matter of time before we see serious weapons systems – whether they be lasers, missiles, even nuclear weapons – move into the space arena.
“So there’s a lot to be concerned about, a lot of questions to be asked, and a lot of homework to be done.”
China’s Chang’e 6 spacecraft is scheduled to touch down on the Moon next month, retrieve about 2kg of soil and rocks, then return to Earth with the samples about June 25.
Why the lunar south pole?
THE lunar south pole has been a site of interest to all space-faring nations, including India, Russia, China and the US.
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