A Chinese military analyst suggested that the People’s Liberation Army should establish a space military force to protect Chinese assets, such as its 54 satellites, the China Daily reported.
China already has used ground-based military force in space, including the launch of a ground-based missile to demolish an aging Chinese weather satellite, and a ground-based laser used to disable a U.S. military satellite.
The proposal came from Wang Fa’an, senior researcher in the Chinese Academy of Military Sciences, who said the space-based forces may not be needed immediately.
That Chinese anti-satellite shot created thousands of pieces of lethal space debris to endanger satellites and spacecraft, drawing worldwide condemnation.
Accidents also can make space dangerous, as shown by the collision of a defunct Russian military satellite with an Iridium Satellite LLC communications satellite.
The United States, however, is leery of entering into a space treaty that would set hard-and-fast rules on installing forces in space.