China, Russia Disguise Attack Threats Posed by Their Satellites, US Says

(Bloomberg) — China and Russia have launched satellites that are meant to inspect and repair other spacecraft but could be used to attack US assets, according to a new report from the US Space Force.

The dual-use nature of some spacecraft, such as the Chinese satellites Shijian 17 and 21, “makes counterspace tests or hostile activity difficult to detect, attribute or mitigate,” the Space Force said in its first public assessment of threats since the service began operation in December 2019.

The report said Russia and China are designing and testing counter-space weapons to “deny, disrupt or destroy satellites and space services. China is also developing — and may be close to deploying — ground-based lasers capable of damaging and not just temporarily blinding US satellite sensors, it said. “They often mask or conceal these activities to avoid international condemnation,” according to the report, titled “Competing in Space” and set to be released Thursday.

The report makes no mention of similar, largely classified, US offensive capabilities such as the portable Meadowlands systems designed to temporarily jam Chinese and Russian satellites. The first of a potential 30 of the systems produced by L3 Harris Technologies Inc. was originally to be delivered in 2022 but now is expected by October, according to US Space Force officials.

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