General: China Space Threat Drives U.S. Space Warfare Buildup

‘I’m not NASA,’ space commander says (UPDATED)

China’s growing space warfare capabilities are prompting the Air Force to develop military space weapons to protect U.S. satellites and shoot down enemy systems, the commander of the Air Force Space Command said in an interview that aired on Sunday.

“It’s a competition I wish wasn’t occurring, but it is,” Air Force Gen. John Hyten, the space commander, told CBS News.

“And if we’re threatened in space, we have the right of self defense and we’ll make sure we can execute that right.”

Asked if those defenses will involve military force, Hyten states: “That’s why we have a military … I’m not NASA.”

Hyten said some U.S. military satellites can maneuver to avoid attack but older ones cannot. “It depends on the satellite … when it was built … how old it is … when we know the threat is coming.”

Experts: China Boosts Space Warfare Capabilities

U.S. military and commercial satellites highly vulnerable to Beijing’s anti-satellite missiles, killer robot satellites

China is developing anti-satellite missiles and other exotic weapons that can destroy or disrupt vital U.S. military and commercial communications, space warfare experts told Congress on Tuesday.

“The current and evolving counterpace threat posed by China to U.S. military operations in the Asia Pacific theater and outside is extremely serious,” said Ashley J. Tellis, a former State Department and National Security Council strategic specialist.