Space Force Says a Chinese Spacecraft Is Practicing Dogfighting Maneuvers in Orbit

The US Space Force has accused China of "dogfighting in space," a term that usually refers to fighter jets caught up in an aerial, close-range battle. During a defense program conference this week, Space Force vice chief of space operations Michael Guetlein said that the military arm had observed "five different objects in space maneuvering in and out and around each other in synchrony and in control," as quoted by Defense One. The Space Force is "starting to see our near-peers focusing on practicing dogfighting in space with satellite-on-satellite," he said. If confirmed, the practice could indicate an escalation in the defensive military capabilities of world powers in orbit, highlighting a heating up "space arms race." As Defense One reports, Guetlein's comments were referring to maneuvers made by three experimental Chinese satellites — called Shiyan-24C, as well as two still unidentified space objects dubbed Shijian-605 A and B — last year. At the time, the Space Force observed ... Read full article.