China Poses Increasing Threat in Military Space Race, US General Warns – Washington Free Beacon

By Alasdair Pal

SYDNEY (Reuters)—Fast developments in China’s army capabilities pose growing dangers to American supremacy in outer house, the top of the USA army’s house wing stated on Monday.

Nina Armagno, director of workers of the U.S. Area Power, stated Beijing had made vital progress in creating army house expertise, together with in areas resembling satellite tv for pc communications and re-useable spacecraft, which permit international locations to quickly scale up their house applications.

“I feel it is completely attainable they might catch up and surpass us, completely,” Armagno stated at an occasion in Sydney run by the Australian Strategic Coverage Institute, a analysis group partly funded by the U.S. and Australian governments. “The progress they’ve made has been beautiful, stunningly quick.”

Traditionally lagging in an area race dominated by the USA and Russia, Beijing has made vital advances lately which have alarmed Washington and different Western nations.

Ye Peijian, the top of the Chinese language Lunar Exploration Program, has likened the moon and Mars to contested islands within the South China Sea that Beijing is making an attempt to say.

China can be creating experimental expertise geared toward mining asteroids and minor planets for pure assets.

“[China] is the one nation with each the intent to reshape the worldwide order and more and more, the financial, diplomatic, army, and technological energy to realize that goal,” Armagno stated.

Together with Russia, China has additionally carried out “reckless” missile assessments which have created harmful quantities of house particles lately, Armagno stated.

“These particles fields threatened all of our techniques in house, and these techniques are very important to all nations’ safety, financial and scientific pursuits,” she stated.

Based in 2019 partly as an try and counter the rising capabilities of China, the Area Power is the fourth department of the U.S. army, with Armagno serving as its first everlasting chief. It’s set to launch three astronauts to its new house station on Tuesday.

(Reporting by Alasdair Pal in Sydney. Enhancing by Gerry Doyle)