Official newspaper cites Elon Musk’s firm as an example of how the US is rapidly speeding up the military use of low-orbit satellites
3-MIN READ3-MIN ListenAlbee Zhangin ShanghaiPublished: 7:20pm, 15 Jun 2026China’s official military newspaper has warned of an arms race over low-earth satellites, citing developments such as SpaceX’s latest contract with the US Space Force.
Low-earth orbit (LEO) constellations typically operate at 300km to 1,500km (185-930 miles) above the Earth and are becoming increasingly important in areas such as communications and satellite navigation.
But in a series of articles covering a full page on Monday, PLA Daily warned: “The era of the militarised application of low-orbit constellations is arriving at an accelerated pace.”
It said the “strategic value of space” was becoming “unprecedentedly prominent”, covering areas such as satellite networks, orbital competition and spectrum seizure.
The articles, all by authors from the Space Security Research Centre at China’s Space Engineering University, were published just three days after SpaceX raised US$75 billion when it went public and made its chief executive Elon Musk the world’s first trillionaire.
One article, written by Feng Songjiang and Wang Xiaoyan, from the Space Security Research Centre, said: “Relying on its first-mover technological advantages and mature commercial ecosystem, the United States has continued to increase the militarised application of low-orbit constellations.
