AURORA, Colo.—The head of Space Forces Indo-Pacific warned that China’s expanding military exercises, aided by an increased use of space, are blurring the line between drills and a potential invasion of Taiwan.
“It is clear in the increasing complexity with which the PLA exercises are done in a way, that it becomes very difficult, and will become very difficult, to discern an exercise from an invasion, and that’s clearly by design,” Brig. Gen. Anthony J. Mastalir, commander of Space Forces Indo-Pacific, told reporters at the AFA Warfare Symposium. “We have begun to see the space piece integrated into some of that, not as much early on, but more recently.”
In particular, Mastalir highlighted Beijing’s growing counter-space capabilities, particularly its anti-satellite (ASAT) weapons that can target satellites in low-Earth and geosynchronous orbits. China’s push to develop ASAT technologies—spanning kinetic and nonkinetic methods, from missiles to electronic jammers to robotic arms designed to disrupt satellites—has been a major concern for Space Force leaders.
Over the years, China has tested different ASAT weapons, including its first destructive test in 2007, a launch into GEO in 2013, and a fractional orbital bombardment system with a hypersonic glide vehicle in 2021. Former Rep. Jim Cooper has described the efforts as “perfecting kill shots.” The 2007 test, widely criticized as reckless, left debris into LEO, exacerbating the risk for all space operations. Chief of Space Operations Gen. B. Chance Saltzman has often pointed to that test as a turning point in the history of military space operations.
Mastalir warned that lately, China has been synchronizing the posturing of such weapons with its military exercises.
“For example, when you think about the counter-space weapons that China is building, including direct ascent ASATs … those are going out and being postured at the same time that the exercise is unfolding in the East China Sea,” said Mastalir. “We are starting to see more and more evidence—as they build the complexity, they’re bringing more of those forces in.”
Military leaders have raised alarms over China’s increasingly aggressive drills around Taiwan in recent years. Already in 2025, Beijing has sent multiple spy balloons and naval warships for “combat readiness patrols” around the island. Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense has also reported numerous incidents of Chinese military aircraft encircling the island. Navy Adm. Samuel Paparo, head of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, called these recent actions “rehearsals for the forced unification of Taiwan with the mainland,” stressing that such People’s Liberation Army activities are “not exercises.”
These multi-domain drills have intensified as China has moved to integrate space capabilities into its military strategy. A decade ago, the Chinese only had about two dozen satellites. Now, they operate more than 1,000—most of which, according to Mastalir, are “specifically designed to track U.S. forces.”
“(China) has been building a space architecture specifically designed to keep the U.S. outside the Second Island Chain,” said Mastalir. Their strategic goal, he noted, is aimed at limiting U.S. and allied forces’ ability to intervene in key regional conflicts, particularly in the South China Sea and around countries like Taiwan and the Philippines.
China is also pushing to compete with Starlink in the satellite internet market, with a plan to build a “mega-constellation” of more than 600 satellites by 2025, eventually reaching a total of 14,000 satellites. Mastalir warned that the next phase of Beijing’s space ambitions will go beyond communication satellites toward remote sensing.
“It’s not surprising that China, too, is going to build these kinds of mega constellations—they’ve seen firsthand how effective it is in preserving communications in contested areas,” said Mastalir. “I fully expect, as we continue to see, not just communication constellations, but the proliferation of remote sensing capabilities.”