The Space Program of the People's Republic of China

Since China destroyed one of its own satellites in January 2007 with a kinetic kill missile, there has been concerns about how much threat the present development of the Chinese space program represents for the United States. To answer this question, this paper makes an analysis of the history and present capabilities of the People's Republic of China, compares the Chinese space program with the US, and evaluates the specific threat of the Chinese antiballistic missile systems. The Chinese space program will then be put in perspective by comparing it to NASA, and the Chinese future space plans are appraised. Finally, the declared position of China is considered and its collaboration with international partners is discussed. The author concludes that the Chinese threat has been exaggerated and recommends cooperation between the US and China.