Global concern over PRC’s space militarization drives push for new rules

Maria T. Reyes

As the People’s Republic of China (PRC) continues to threaten assets in the space domain with antisatellite capabilities and other technologies, nations including Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States are calling for governing standards for the use of space. Tokyo and Washington also are collaborating to deter PRC militarization of space.

“In addition to the development of directed-energy weapons and satellite jammers, the PLA [People’s Liberation Army] has an operational ground-based anti-satellite (ASAT) missile intended to target low-Earth orbit satellites,” noted the U.S. Defense Department report “Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China,” published in October 2023. “The PRC probably intends to pursue additional ASAT weapons capable of destroying satellites up to geosynchronous Earth orbit.”

Beijing used an ASAT missile to destroy one of its defunct meteorological satellites more than 800 kilometers above Earth in 2007, resulting in over 3,000 pieces of trackable space debris, more than 2,700 of which likely will orbit Earth for decades, posing a hazard to functioning satellites and spacecraft.

As such threats to the space domain grow, so do calls for new rules. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin approved five Tenets of Responsible Behavior in Space in July 2021. The nonbinding tenets, which were amended in 2023, are based on key concepts including acting with consideration for other satellites and abstaining from interfering with the activities of other parties.

In October 2023, the U.K. introduced a resolution at the United Nations General Assembly’s First Committee, which deals with disarmament and international security, on “reducing space threats through norms, rules and principles of responsible behaviors,” which has helped galvanize global discussions on responsible space behavior.

Japan, meanwhile, included the establishment of a rules-based international order to promote the stable and sustainable use of space as part of its national defense strategy, Kazuto Suzuki, a professor at the University of Tokyo’s Graduate School of Public Policy, wrote for the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in June 2023. Japanese officials are working with representatives of 33 other U.N. member states to reduce space threats through measures mirroring the U.K.’s proposal.

With few universal rules governing space operations, there is little to deter adversarial actors from testing ASAT capabilities or engaging in other disruptive and hazardous conduct in space, Gen. B. Chance Saltzman, commander of the U.S. Space Force, told Japan’s Nikkei Asia newspaper in November 2023.

“We certainly want to lead the discussion on establishing effective norms of behavior,” Saltzman said. “We would love to see every nation adopt those norms of responsible behavior and commit to conducting operations with those.”

To deter malicious space activity, the U.S. Space Force plans to establish a new unit in Japan, while Tokyo and Washington also have a ride-share program that enables U.S. payloads such as advanced sensors to orbit with Japanese satellites, Saltzman told Nikkei Asia.

Additionally, Japan is developing its own space security infrastructure within the parameters of its constitution, Suzuki wrote for CSIS, a U.S.-based think tank. This includes deploying space domain awareness satellites and enhancing the nation’s Quasi-Zenith Satellite System, which would back up the U.S.-owned GPS system in the event of an attack, thereby strengthening the Japan-U.S. Alliance.

Maria T. Reyes is a FORUM contributor reporting from Manila, Philippines.