[In an op-ed in the South China Morning Post on October 2,](www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3369204/whatever-trump-claims-weaponisation-space-makes-losers-us-all) PLA Senior Colonel Zhou Bou, now a scholar at Tsinghua University, commented on the dangerous developments stemming from the US decision to deploy weapons in space. Zhou notes that while many nations, including China, have built dedicated space combat organizations, none of them have created a stand-alone independent Space Force like that of the US. In addition, none of them have publicly acknowledged deploying on-orbit space weapons, fearful of a major public backlash to making outer space a battlefield. He notes that while the 1967 Outer Space Treaty only bans nuclear weapons in space, deploying any other weapons system will also draw widespread criticism.
He admits that “there is no clear definition of what constitutes a space weapon.” “That is probably why the Pentagon vaguely refers to ‘kinetic and non-kinetic means to affect adversary capabilities’, without spelling out specific details.” Counter-space technology “falls into four categories,” he says, “co-orbital weapons match the target satellite’s orbit, track it closely, and disable it through impact or explosion; direct-ascent weapons strike passing satellites without entering their orbits; directed-energy tools, such as lasers and high-power microwaves, cripple satellite functions in an instant; electronic and cyber tools jam signals or hack both satellite and ground systems.” He also notes a “grey zone” in which systems that have a civilian purpose can be used for military purposes. A satellite can be used to “grab” another satellite.
Two opposing views exist regarding this situation, he notes. China, Russia, and many Global South countries are calling for a legally binding treaty to prevent space weaponization entirely, versus the US-led Western bloc, which argues that space militarization is inevitable, so that the world should focus on establishing non-binding “responsible behaviors.”
Zhou ridiculed Trump’s claims that the US will be dominant in space, calling it “a fantasy.” “Leaving aside its astronomical costs and extreme technical difficulties, no defensive system can fully counter the full spectrum of attacks by ballistic missiles, maneuverable hypersonic vehicles, fractional orbital bombardment systems and dual-use satellites at the same time,” he wrote.
“China is not against the idea of ‘responsible behaviors,’” Zhou says, noting that in 2021 two SpaceX Starlink satellites came dangerously close to China’s space station while Chinese astronauts were on board, forcing an emergency evacuation. “Space weapons would amplify these dangers exponentially,” he warns. Any attack would create almost insuperable space debris, making it difficult, if not impossible, to continue unimpeded exploration. He also said that it takes little imagination to realize that a space war would inevitably escalate into a large-scale, all-out conflict, that would not be confined to conventional warfare. “Any major-power strike against rival space assets is impossible to conceal and will invite overwhelming retaliation,” he stressed.
