China practiced fighting war in space, America was upset seeing ‘satellite dogfighting’

A top US Space Force general said on Tuesday that commercial satellites have observed Chinese satellites ‘dogfighting’ in low Earth orbit. ‘Dogfighting’ is a term used for a kind of aerial encounter. In such a situation, this space maneuver of China is being seen as a big threat to America. Apart from this, this dogfight in space is also being considered as the latest demonstration of China’s strategic and technological advancement.

What did the US Space Force say

According to Defense News report, during the McAleese Defense Programs Conference in Washington, Vice Chief of Space Operations General Michael Guetlin said, “With our commercial assets, we have seen five different objects in space maneuvering in and out of each other and around each other in synchronized and controlled manner.” He said, “This is what we call dogfighting in space. They are practicing tactics, techniques and procedures to conduct on-orbit space operations from one satellite to another.”

Chinese satellites and spacecraft took part

A service spokesman later elaborated on Guetlein’s comments. He said the operation took place in 2024 and involved three Shijian-24C experimental satellites and two other Chinese experimental spacecraft, Shijian-605A and B. The Shijian-6 system is believed to have a signals intelligence mission. The exercise demonstrated China’s ability to conduct complex maneuvers in orbit, referred to as rendezvous and proximity operations, which involve not only navigating around other objects but also observing them.

Satellite dogfighting a threat to the US

Guetlein called the satellite dogfighting demonstration a major threat to the US. He said China could become an even bigger power by combining with other US rivals. He was referring to Russia’s demonstration of a “nesting doll” capability in 2019. Meanwhile, a Russian satellite released a small spacecraft that then performed several pursuit maneuvers near a US satellite. These behaviors indicate that the space capability gap between the US military and its closest enemies is narrowing.

China challenging America in space technology

“That capability gap used to be much larger,” Guetlein said. “We have to change the way we look at space or the capability gap could reverse and no longer be in our favor.” Guetlein’s comments come at a time when the US Space Force is increasing its emphasis on establishing “superiority” or dominance in space.