China remains America’s top threat in space and is catching up to the United States military’s space capabilities at an “incredible pace,” according to a top Space Force general.
“They are bringing on capability, I won’t say daily, but at least monthly, that puts our assets at risk,” Lt. Gen. Douglas Schiess, the commander of U.S. Space Forces-Space, told reporters at the annual Air & Space Forces Association conference in National Harbor, Maryland, on Wednesday.
“China is definitely our biggest threat,” he said.
According to Schiess, the Chinese are building a “kill chain,” or attack process, for targeting U.S. maritime, land and air forces “at greater distances than we’ve ever seen.”
“They’re using space to be able to make those distances even greater,” Schiess explained. “On top of that, they are adding counter-space capabilities that then put our assets at risk.”
Space Force intelligence suggests the Chinese military likely views counter-space operations as a way to deter and counter U.S. military intervention in a regional conflict.
Bradley Bowman, senior director of the Center on Military and Political Power at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said China’s operations in space are among its “most concerning” military activities.
“It’s the ultimate high ground. Space strengthens our intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance [ISR] and targeting capabilities. In other words, it’s our best eyes and ears. And if our adversaries can have better ISR and can have better space-based ISR and targeting capabilities than we do, and deprive us of that high ground, then that is very, very dangerous,” he told Military Times on Thursday.
Should the Chinese military be able to destroy or outperform U.S. space-based capabilities, Bowman said that would lead to fewer early warnings about threats and more difficult combat engagements.
“And when you aggregate that, that can result in a lost battle or war,” Bowman said.
Schiess said the U.S. military must continue to put up more satellites, including ISR satellites, to protect its forces.
According to the most recent space threat fact sheet published by Space Force intelligence, China had more than 1,189 satellites in orbit as of July 2025, representing an on-orbit increase of about 927% since the end of 2015.
More than 500 of those are ISR-capable satellites with optical, multispectral, radar, and radio frequency sensors, which the Space Force says increases China’s ability to detect U.S. aircraft carriers, expeditionary forces and air wings.
