An Authoritative Source on China's Military Space Strategy

The report examines 'The Science of Second Artillery Operations', a classified 2003 textbook from the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA), to challenge U.S. assumptions about China's military space intent. The author argues that the absence of anti-satellite (ASAT) attack planning in this authoritative text suggests that China was not pursuing an 'asymmetric' strategy to cripple U.S. satellites as of 2003. Instead, the document indicates that China views space capabilities as essential support for its missile forces and focuses on 'camouflage, concealment, and deception' to avoid U.S. satellite detection. The report further contends that the 2007 Chinese ASAT test was likely a technological experiment modeled on U.S. and Soviet precedents rather than a strategic shift toward preemptive space warfare.

• A classified 2003 PLA textbook, 'The Science of Second Artillery Operations', contains no mention of missile attacks against satellites, suggesting that such operations were not a focus of China's military space planning at that time.
• China's military space strategy appears to be modeled on U.S. capabilities, focusing on acquiring satellites for reconnaissance, communication, navigation, and weather monitoring to support its own missile forces.
• Rather than attacking U.S. satellites, the PLA prioritizes protecting its missile forces from foreign surveillance through 'anti-satellite' operations defined as camouflage, concealment, and deception.
• The report argues that U.S. beliefs in a 'space Pearl Harbor' or an asymmetric Chinese strategy were often based on non-authoritative sources, translation errors, or propaganda.
• The 2007 Chinese ASAT test is interpreted not as a strategic warning to the U.S., but as a logical step in a decades-long technological development process that mirrored earlier U.S. and Soviet tests.
• The report distinguishes between the terms 'assassin's mace' (shashoujian), often used in sensational open-source texts, and 'trump card' (sashoujian), used in official military texts to describe a decisive strategic thrust.

APA

Kulacki, G. (2014). An Authoritative Source on China's Military Space Strategy. Union of Concerned Scientists. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-10/China-s-Military-Space-Strategy.pdf

Chicago

Kulacki, Gregory. An Authoritative Source on China's Military Space Strategy. Union of Concerned Scientists, 2014. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-10/China-s-Military-Space-Strategy.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Kulacki |first1=Gregory |title=An Authoritative Source on China's Military Space Strategy |publisher=Union of Concerned Scientists |date=March 2014 |url=https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-10/China-s-Military-Space-Strategy.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{kulacki2014authoritative, author = {Kulacki, Gregory}, title = {{An Authoritative Source on China's Military Space Strategy}}, institution = {Union of Concerned Scientists}, year = {2014}, month = mar, url = {https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-10/China-s-Military-Space-Strategy.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }