A new report from the United States has found that China could deploy laser weapons in space before 2030.
The report, published by the Defense Intelligence Agency, said China, Russia, Iran and North Korea are developing, testing, deploying and using space capabilities in ways that threaten the security of all space systems and the associated space benefits.
Safe, secure and sustainable space domain
The report, titled “Challenges to Space Security,” claimed that China and Russia are developing an impressive range of offensive capabilities to degrade or destroy other countries’ space services, from kinetic destruction to sophisticated jamming and cyber operations. These countries have exhibited behaviors that are often inconsistent with a safe and sustainable space domain.
Counterspace weapons can jam, jam, temporarily disable, or permanently disable space assets and the vital services they provide. Military, civilian and commercial providers provide space services, which as a whole may be compromised by an actor seeking to interfere with military space services, as commercial and civil space services sometimes have links to specific military capabilities. Although many defensive weapons or tactics are aimed at temporarily disrupting space services, others can permanently damage or destroy satellites, according to the report.
Anti-satellite missiles (ASAT) are designed for kinetic attack and destruction of satellites. ASAT rockets could produce massive amounts of debris that could remain in orbit for decades or even centuries.
Crucial component for conducting modern “computerized warfare”
The report also highlighted that the PLA’s goals include space dominance, as Beijing is able to control the space-based information sphere and deny its adversaries their own space-based information gathering and communications capabilities. China views space dominance as a critical component for waging modern “computerized warfare.”
China has developed and will continue to develop weapons for use against satellites in orbit to disrupt, damage, and destroy other nations’ space capabilities.113,114 China continues to research, develop, test, and deploy various types of counterspace weapons, including ground-based ASAT missile systems capable of destroying satellites.
Directed energy weapons (DEWs) can temporarily or permanently blind imaging satellites and interfere with overhead persistent infrared (OPIR) and weather sensors, compromising the ability to monitor, track, and target forces.
It is also claimed that countries with nuclear weapons can launch a warhead on a long-range launch vehicle such as an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) or a space launch vehicle (SLV) and likely conduct a high-altitude nuclear detonation or even place a nuclear weapon in space. In either case, a nuclear detonation in or near space would cause widespread electromagnetic disturbances in space and on Earth, leading to possible damage or destruction of satellites.
China is developing space launch capabilities to ensure that it has an independent and reliable way to access space and compete in the international space launch market. Beijing set a national record for space launches in 2025 with 93, including 25 commercial launches. There have already been 18 launches in the first quarter of 2026, six of which were commercial launches.254 China is working to improve production efficiency and launch capabilities while seeking to expand its human spaceflight and space exploration missions, including to the Moon and Mars.
China is developing space-based technology, including orbiting counterspace weapons capable of endangering space systems. To research space debris removal, China has launched several satellites, such as the Shijian-21 in GEO, to conduct scientific experiments and test space maintenance technologies. Such systems, including the Shijian-17, a satellite with a robotic arm, can be used to capture other satellites. In January 2022, Shijian-21 launched an abandoned BeiDou navigation satellite into a high graveyard orbit above GEO. In January 2025, China launched the Shijian-25 into GEO, which it said will test orbital refueling and maintenance capabilities.
The report also highlighted that China has multiple ground-based laser weapons of varying power to jam, weaken or damage satellites in LEO. By the late 2020s, China could deploy space-based directed energy systems and more powerful ground-based directed energy systems capable of threatening satellites in higher orbits. In January 2021, PLA media claimed that laser weapons were entering a golden age; They cited blinding (i.e., temporarily blinding a sensor) as one of the many uses of laser weapons.
