Peter Dutton accuses Beijing of playing war games in space

China is using the same bully-like tactics to militarise space as it does in the South and East China seas, Peter Dutton says.

Peter Dutton says he is ‘very concerned’ with the manner and speed with which China is seeking to militarise space. Picture:Gary Ramage

Defence Minister Peter Dutton has accused China of pursuing an aggressive plan to militarise space to undermine the warfighting abilities of western nations including Australia.

In the strongest comments yet on the evolving “space race”, Mr Dutton said China was employing the same bully-like tactics in space as it did over disputed territory in the South and East China seas.

‘The space race is on and ­assured access to space is critical to the Australian Defence Force’s warfighting effectiveness (through) situational awareness, delivery of real-time communications and information,” Mr Dutton said.

He vowed that Australia would work more closely with ­allies such as the US to try to counter efforts by both China and Russia to develop ways to cripple western satellites and space-based communications.

The minister’s comments followed a report in The Australian that China was surging ahead in the race to weaponise space, completing 50 orbital launches this year as it looked to gain military advantage.

Mr Dutton said he was “very concerned” with the manner and speed with which China was seeking to militarise space.

“I think their conduct is not dissimilar to what we are seeing on water in the East China Sea, on the land border with India and in their clashes with the Philippines and with Vietnam and others,” he said.

“I don’t think anyone would be surprised by that.

“I think Russia and China are two countries that cause us considerable concern.”

The vice chief of space operations for the US Space Force, David Thompson, recently revealed that China and Russia were regularly attacking US ­satellites with non-kinetic means, including lasers, radio-frequency jammers and cyber attacks.

China and Russia are ­developing satellites that can attack other satellites.

Beijing is reportedly developing a satellite that could claw or grab a rival satellite with a robotic arm.

“The threats are really growing and expanding every single day,” General Thompson said. “And it’s really an evolution of activity that’s been happening for a long time.

“We’re really at a point now where there’s a whole host of ways that our space systems can be threatened.”

An estimated 70 to 80 per cent of China’s 50 orbit launches this year are believed to be military or dual-use satellites.

The Pentagon believes China is on track to overtake the US as the number one power in space by the end of the decade.

Mr Dutton said the government was investing heavily in space capability and was committed to working more closely with the US to help protect western assets in space.

“We have committed to about $7bn in space capability over the next decade,” the minister said.

“There is a lot of work with our allies, predominantly the United States, in our space program and it’s very much an important component of strategic competition and military advantage.

“We are making in the investment in early warning systems and the ability to protect our equities in space which has obviously significant civilian applications because there is a heavy reliance on GPS on satellite communications, imagery, assistance provided during the bushfires and the pandemic, all of that relies on a reliable presence in space.”

Russia raised the stakes in space this year, testing an ASAT (anti-satellite) missile that destroyed an old Soviet satellite, creating a huge cloud of space debris that threatened lives on the International Space Station, and will imperil space assets for years to come.

Mr Dutton at the time condemned the Russian test as “a provocative and dangerous act that demonstrated the threats to space systems are real, serious and growing”..