The United States, China, and Space Security: Issues for the Trump Administration

Ten years later, many of the same tensions and questions remain. The U.S. national security community is extremely concerned about the vulnerability of its space assets, and the potential for conflict on Earth to extend into space. The Department of Defense has publicly focused on a strategy of increasing the resilience of its own space capabilities to try and deter attacks, but some both inside and outside the government have advocated for a more aggressive response. Meanwhile, the publicly-available evidence indicates China has continued developing and testing ASAT weapons, while also continuing to develop its military and civil space capabilities that increase its own reliance on space. The United States and China have recently initiated a series of bilateral discussions on space security, but a recent multilateral effort to develop an International Code of Conduct for space activities has stalled, in part due to concerns over self-defense in space.