Chinese Military Views of Low Earth Orbit: Proliferation, Starlink, and Desired Countermeasures

Proliferated constellations in low earth orbit (LEO) have demonstrated significant battlefield utility in the Russia-Ukraine war and are likely to continue serving as an important component of space power in wartime. The authors draw on open-source literature across the Chinese defense enterprise to assess People's Liberation Army perspectives of LEO as a warfighting domain and the systems being deployed in LEO, especially Starlink.