Stephen Whiting said China could deploy a space plane-linked directed-energy capability in space by the end of the 2020s. The warning turns a broad anti-satellite threat into a near-term planning problem for satellites used for detection and communications.
DIA report on Desafíos para la seguridad espacial
The DIA says China could place directed-energy systems in space and deploy higher-power ground-based versions by the end of the 2020s. That puts a possible new anti-satellite tool inside the current decade, not in some distant future.
The report also says China already has ground-based directed-energy weapons capable of disrupting, degrading, or damaging satellites. For operators that rely on orbital links, the difference is not theoretical: a weapon that can blind or weaken a satellite can be used without destroying the spacecraft outright.
What the report says China studies
In the same report, the DIA says that at least since 2006, government-affiliated researchers have studied aerospace engineering technologies tied to space-deployed kinetic weapons. Those studies cover atmospheric reentry, payload separation, launch vehicles, and target selection in transit orbits, which points to sustained work on the mechanics of reaching and shaping a strike in space.
The report says the Ejército Popular de Liberación is likely to see directed-energy weapons as ideal space countermeasure systems because they can inflict reversible and irreversible damage on satellites. It also says much of its anti-satellite doctrine treats these systems as deterrents in a regional conflict or as tools to control escalation.
Stephen Whiting and allied satellites
Whiting said in August 2026 that China already possessed anti-satellite missiles, ground-based lasers, jamming equipment, and maneuverable multipurpose satellites. That inventory matters because the new DIA warning does not describe a single isolated program; it adds another layer to an existing set of counterspace tools.
The report says that if China decides to strike first, one of its main targets would be satellites that the United States and its allies rely on for detection and communications from space. The practical takeaway for operators is straightforward: redundancy, hardening, and rapid reconstitution become more valuable when the threat is not just physical interception but energy-based interference.
The report does not specify whether China is pursuing lasers, high-power microwaves, particle beams, or a combination of those capabilities. That leaves the most important question open: what exact directed-energy technology China is preparing for space deployment by the end of the 2020s.
