US risks falling behind China in rapid satellite launches, report warns
- Researchers say that China is probably ahead of the US in ability to quickly launch or replace satellites in event of conflict
- Country has been developing tactically responsive space launch abilities over the past decade, Georgetown University study says
China has probably surpassed the United States in its ability to quickly launch and replace satellites in the wake of a conflict or accident, according to a new report by an American university.
By developing relatively small, mobile, solid-fuel rockets which can lift off from a mobile platform rather than launch pads, China had advanced a critical capability known as tactically responsive space launch (TRSL) over the past decade, said researchers from the Centre for Security and Emerging Technology at Georgetown University in Washington.
In comparison, the US had performed only one stated demonstration of TRSL so far, with a second test planned for later this year, the researchers wrote in their 47-page report “Defending the Ultimate High Ground” which was published this month.
“Both countries have built extensive space-based assets for a wide range of economic, scientific and military applications. The ability to quickly replace damaged or destroyed satellites is a key component of space resilience,” said Sam Bresnick, the report’s co-author and a research fellow at the centre.
“The United States has the most advanced space industry in the world, but it has not demonstrated a commensurate ability to launch rockets on short notice.”
Bresnick and colleague Corey Crowell from the US Space Force used publicly available data to evaluate key aspects of China’s progress in space resilience in the last 10 years.