China's Space and Counterspace Capabilities and Activities
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China’s Space and Counterspace Capabilities and Activities Prepared for: The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission Prepared By: Mark Stokes, Gabriel Alvarado, Emily Weinstein, and Ian Easton March 30, 2020 Disclaimer: This research report was prepared at the request of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission to support its deliberations. Posting of the report to the Commission's website is intended to promote greater public understanding of the issues addressed by the Commission in its ongoing assessment of U.S.-China economic relations and their implications for U.S. security, as mandated by Public Law 106-398 and Public Law 113-291. However, it does not necessarily imply an endorsement by the Commission or any individual Commissioner of the views or conclusions expressed in this commissioned research report. Table of Contents KEY FINDINGS ............................................................................................................................ 3 RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................................................................................... 4 INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 5 SECTION ONE: Drivers for Current and Future PLA Space/Counterspace Capabilities ........ 8 Space-Related Policy Statements ........................................................................................................... 9 Strategic Drivers and Doctrine ............................................................................................................ 13 General Trends since the Late 1990s .................................................................................................. 15 Space Support for Warfighting Campaigns ....................................................................................... 16 Space, Distant Operations, and Outlook for the Future ................................................................... 19 SECTION TWO: PLA Space/Counterspace Infrastructure: The Role of the PLA Strategic Support Force ............................................................................................................................... 21 Space Systems Department and Subordinate Base Commands ....................................................... 23 Space Launch Operations .................................................................................................................... 24 Space Situational Awareness and Control .......................................................................................... 26 ISR, Navigation, Communications, and Meteorological/Hydrological Capabilities ...................... 28 Space-Based ISR ................................................................................................................................................ 28 Survey, Mapping, and Navigation ...................................................................................................................... 33 Satellite Communications and Data Relay ......................................................................................................... 35 Meteorology, Oceanography, and Space Weather ............................................................................................. 36 Deep Space Operations ......................................................................................................................... 37 Current and Future Kinetic and Non-Kinetic Counterspace Operations ....................................... 39 Training ................................................................................................................................................. 41 SECTION THREE: Space/Counterspace Force ModernizAtion ............................................... 44 Research, Development, and Acquisition System .............................................................................. 44 Space Requirements Development and Program Management ....................................................... 47 Defense Industry and Space Systems Engineering ............................................................................ 48 China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation .................................................................................... 48 China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation .......................................................................................... 49 Launch Vehicle RD&A ...................................................................................................................................... 49 Solid-Fueled Propulsion Systems ....................................................................................................................... 51 New-Generation Aerospace Flight Vehicles/Reusable Launch Vehicles .......................................................... 53 Satellite Systems RD&A .................................................................................................................................... 54 Microsatellite Programs ...................................................................................................................................... 55 Counterspace RD&A .......................................................................................................................................... 57 1 SECTION FOUR: Military-Civil Fusion (MCF) Policies And International Cooperation ..... 59 Military-Civil Fusion and the PRC’s Space Program ....................................................................... 59 Academia and Universities’ Role in Space-Related Basic Research and RD&A ............................ 64 Cooperation with U.S. Institutions ..................................................................................................................... 68 International Recruitment Programs ................................................................................................. 72 PRC Non-State-Owned Space Business .............................................................................................. 74 Financing and Investment Vehicles .................................................................................................................... 74 Non-CASC/CASIC Launch Vehicle Companies ............................................................................................... 75 Non-CASC/CASIC Satellite Companies ............................................................................................................ 78 PRC Provision of Satellite Infrastructure, Launch Services Overseas ............................................ 80 Beidou Achieving Global Reach ........................................................................................................................ 88 Role in Overseas Tracking Stations .................................................................................................................... 91 Leveraging Foreign Technology and Knowhow ................................................................................ 94 Role of Hong Kong-Domiciled Companies ......................................................................................... 97 CONCLUSIONS/RECOMMENDATIONS .............................................................................. 101 APPENDIX ................................................................................................................................ 104 ACRONYMS .............................................................................................................................. 112 2 KEY FINDINGS The development of the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC, China) civilian and military space programs over the last few decades has proceeded alongside the PRC’s broader rise in the international system. Questions regarding China’s capabilities and intentions in space are indubitably linked to larger geostrategic questions about China’s role in the world. Buoyed by recent successes and impressive advancements in space technology, China has emerged as a leading player in space. The implications for United States policy are numerous, and the capabilities China either currently possesses or is in the process of developing certainly pose a strategic risk to the United States’ ability to operate in the Indo-Pacific region. Investments into space-related research and development (R&D) drive military capabilities and fill gaps in intelligence, reconnaissance, and surveillance. Space-based infrastructure is increasingly important for People’s Liberation Army (PLA) out-of-area operations. An advanced presence in space is indicative of China’s renewed status as a great power in the international system. The advent of the PLA Strategic Support Force (PLASSF) Space Systems Department represents an organizational innovation that places all major components of China’s space program under a unified command structure, thereby increasing efficiency and efficacy. The SSF operates a vast bureaucratic apparatus that manages operations and allocates a sizable R&D budget to various aspects of its space program, all parts that move China closer toward achieving its stated goal of becoming a major space power. China’s significant investments in space and counterspace capabilities may prove threatening to U.S. space assets and military efficacy. China’s space infrastructure is complemented by its growing capacity to deny adversarial powers access