Head of the US Space Force, John Raymond claimed Beijing has been building a vast amount of space technology that can combat US satellites. This includes reversible jammers of the US GPS system, which provides navigation with timing precision and jamming of satellite communications. Mr Raymond said: “They’ve got missiles they can launch from the ground and destroy satellites. “I’m convinced that these capabilities that they’re developing would be utilized by them in their efforts in any potential conflict.”
Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin are currently Biden’s biggest competitors as a new space race unfolds – with a deadly twist.
They are both working on similar anti-satellite technology which have put military leaders on high alert.
That’s because communications and GPS satellites are key to the military operations of many countries.
If the satellites were taken out or jammed, it could prove costly and put any military at a serious tactical disadvantage.
Under Donald Trump’s presidency, US-China relations were worsened after he set up the Space Force, which is the newest branch of the US military.
Mr Trump wanted to make the US the dominant global power in space, which has encouraged other world powers to follow suit.
But this arm of the military has been slammed by critics for its unnecessary bureaucracy with an unclear mandate.
But global enemies aren’t the only threat to satellites in space.
Space debris floating through the galaxy and blocking up the Earth’s orbit has also become a big problem for satellites.
READ MORE: Uncrewed US ‘Ghost Ship’ fires missiles in ‘game-changing’ weapon test
This is when one collision goes on to create a series of exponential collisions.
This is also referred to as Kessler Syndrome.
But global powers competing in space is not a new phenomenon, with the history of space domination dating back to the Cold War period in the 1950s.
But while that was a standoff between the Soviet Union and the US, who were competing to achieve superior spaceflight capabilities, China is a much newer face in this competition.
The Chinese National Space Agency has now launched its Shenzou-12 spacecraft which will carry three astronauts to China’s new orbiting space station, the Tiangong, for the first time ever.