US satellites risk being ‘paralysed’

China is ‘ahead of the game’ with its space weaponry, leaving the US vulnerable to being ‘paralysed’ by an attack on its satellites, according to a defence expert. Washington is aware of plans by Beijing to improve technology capable of causing damage above the skies, with senior officials describing it as an ‘immediate threat’. Suspicions were detailed in a Pentagon report in April, including the possibility of China increasing its arsenal ‘by the mid to late-2020s’.Speaking to Express.co.uk, Zeno Leoni, a defence lecturer at King’s College London, acknowledged ‘fear’ in the US about China destroying western space tech with ‘missiles from land’.Mr Leoni said: ‘If they [China] destroy space technology, then we cannot operate.”They are also investing in other areas like artificial intelligence, and cognitive warfare that perhaps the US is behind in.’The author added that “China is ahead of the game” with its hypersonic missiles.  China could destroy US space assets, experts warn (Image: Getty)Mr Leoni added: “China could eliminate satellites that are critical for many things including military operations, communication, and GPS signals.  “If these were to be switched off all of a sudden, we would be paralysed.’The US has increased investment in its 2023 defence budget in response to perceived threats from China – and Russia.The April Pentagon report said: ‘China has multiple ground-based laser weapons of varying power levels to disrupt, degrade, or damage satellites that include a current limited capability to employ laser systems against satellite sensors. READ MORE: China and Russia in emergency phone call as unjust fears soar China has a satellite equipped with robotic arm that can grab another satellite with a claw (Image: Getty) US officials have said that China and Russia can conduct cyber attacks on 37 GPS satellites (Image: Getty)’By the mid to late-2020s, China may field higher power systems that extend the threat to the structures of non-optical satellites.’Last month, ahead of a Senate Armed Services Committee, Space Force Lieutenant General B Chance Saltzman said: ‘The most immediate threat, in my opinion, is the pace with which our strategic challengers – first and foremost the Chinese – are aggressively pursuing capabilities that can disrupt, degrade and ultimately even destroy our satellite capabilities and disrupt our ground infrastructure.”Beijing has not been shy about its ability to act in space and in 2007, even shot down its own satellite with a ballistic missile launched from earth to prove its destructive capabilities. This left 3,000 pieces of debris in space.Mr Leoni’s concerns come as tensions between the US and China are rising over Taiwan. Joe Biden has increased military spending for the country’s protection against such attacks (Image: Getty)In 2021, US space commander James Dickinson claimed China had launched a grappling arm satellite into space – the Shijan-17 – which can be used to capture and harm other orbiting equipment. It has in the past displayed strange behaviour. Similar to Russia’s Kosmos 2542, which has The US is heavily dependent on space satellites and has many space assets it would like to protect, among them the Global Positioning System (GPS) constellation.The loss of GPS would cost the US economy an estimated $1billion a day, a 2019 report by the National Institute of Standards and Technology said. The threat of space attacks caused Lieutenant General Saltzman to call for the US to reduce its reliance on big satellites that could be spotted and destroyed by enemy states. The Lieutenant General also thinks that a shift is needed because new threats, such as hypersonic missiles, are hard to spot with a smaller satellite fleet.