Chinese satellites reportedly practiced low-orbit combat last year
Destroying an adversary’s satellite array will be an important prerequisite for winning a future war. In this regard, the deputy chief of space operations of the US Space Force (service), General Michael Guetlein, said that commercial systems have observed Chinese satellites practicing “dogfighting” maneuvers (a common Air Force term referring to maneuverable air combat at short distances) in low Earth orbit. It is supposed to be the latest demonstration of the tactical and technological progress of America’s adversary in space.
General Guetlein’s report:
“We observed five different objects in space with our (US) commercial assets moving in a controlled and synchronized manner in different directions and around each other,” said Deputy Chief of Space Operations General Michael Guetlein during the McAleese Defense Programs Conference in Washington.
“This is what we call a dogfight in space. They practice the tactics, techniques and procedures for conducting space operations in orbit from one satellite to another.”
Foreign report on Chinese satellite maneuvers:
A spokesperson later clarified Guetlein’s comments, saying the operation took place in 2024 and involved three Shiyan-24C experimental satellites (all three were launched on December 25, 2023 into sun-synchronous orbit, secret purpose unknown) and two other Chinese experimental spacecraft, Shijian 6-05 A and B (both launched on December 10, 2021). The Shijian 6-05 A systems are believed to be used to conduct ELINT/SIGINT (monitoring various electromagnetic signatures and communication signals of the adversary).
The exercise demonstrated China’s ability to conduct complex in-orbit maneuvers, known as rendezvous and approach operations, which involve not only navigating around other space objects but also inspecting them. (The article is not wrong. Shiyan is Chinese for experiment and Shijian for practice, not everyone will notice the difference.)
Guetlein cited the satellite dogfighting demonstration along with several other activities by “near-peer” U.S. adversaries (those that the Americans consider to be close to their capabilities). This includes Russia’s “nesting doll” demonstration in 2019, where one satellite launched a smaller spacecraft that then performed several tracking maneuvers near a U.S. satellite.
The behavior suggests that the gap in space capabilities between the U.S. military and its closest adversaries is narrowing, a problem that U.S. space commanders have been warning about for years.
“This capability gap used to be huge,” Guetlein said. “We need to change the way we look at space, or this capability gap could reverse and no longer be to our advantage.”
Guetlein’s comments come as the Space Force increases its emphasis on establishing “superiority” or dominance in space, by defending its satellites from enemy attacks and its own offensive measures.
“The purpose of the Space Force is to ensure space superiority for the joint/joint force. – not space for space’s sake. Space [operations] ensure that, just like all other domains (land, water, air, cyberspace, etc.), we can fight as a joint/joint force and we can rely on these capabilities,” Guetlein said.
What more could we add? Coincidentally, about a week before the initial report was published on the Defense News portal, the author recalled the Soviet P-23M “Картечь” telescopic-ammunition cannon. Where are the days when satellites were supposed to be shot down from Earth!
Max Bach
