China is closing the space innovation gap with the United States and could take the lead if Washington doesn’t act, think tank warns
4-MIN READ4-MINChao Kongin BeijingPublished: 8:00pm, 28 Jun 2026China has leapfrogged the United States in a few mighty important sectors of space technologies: GPS-style navigation, spy-in-the-sky reconnaissance and even the ability to knock satellites out of orbit, according to a report from a US think tank.The report from the Washington-based Information Technology and Innovation Foundation said China had rapidly built a powerful commercial space sector under strong state backing and was narrowing the innovation gap with the US.
The warning comes as analysts project the global space economy could exceed US$1 trillion within the next decade. According to the report, China has already surpassed Russia as America’s main competitor in space.
“Most commercial space capabilities are dual use, with militaries relying most heavily on [positioning, navigation and timing], remote sensing, [low Earth orbit] broadband and anti-satellite weaponry.
