China is poised to become the world's first country to create a "Space Force," which gives it the chance to lay claim, or at least patrol, a significant swath of the Earth's orbit. While this achievement has yet to be formally announced, the Chinese military is already preparing to gain advantage in an emerging space warfare with a series of recent reforms, The Washington Times reported.
The Chinese Space Force will be created under the People's Liberation Army and would be tasked to integrate different elements that include nuclear missiles units, electronic data and cyber threat personnel, as well as signals intelligence, the Daily Mail reported. Early reports indicated that these are purportedly classified into three branches, namely strategic missiles, space force and electronic warfare. An event last Thursday presided by Chinese President Xi Jinping seemed to confirm this. However, instead of three branches, only two units were announced.
The so-called PLA Rocket branch will consolidate the missile and space rocket units, which should include several space technologies that China is rumored to be developing such as a space weapon. The Strategic Support force is in charge of the hi-tech warfare in space and on the Internet, according to the South China Morning Post.
It is not yet clear whether China's Space Force initiative will launch a space arms race that could eventually culminate into a space conflict. However, experts believe that this event could be catastrophic, since a war in space could destroy the satellites, which are critical in the global navigation and communication.
