The Coalition for a Prosperous America (CPA) and the Prague Security Studies Institute (PSSI) have released a joint report, Ground Game of Authoritarian Space Powers, which examines how China is pursuing a new space race not only in orbit, but on the ground. The initial report of the CPA/PSSI China Space Security Initiative (CSSI) details how Beijing is working to penetrate and control the space sectors of more than 120 countries through hundreds of ostensibly commercial agreements, via state-controlled Chinese companies that, in effect, act as fronts for the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
Drawing on PSSI’s open-source financial intelligence, the report reveals how Chinese military space firms secure American investment through publicly traded securities and private equity transactions, despite links to sanctioned defense contractors and the Chinese Communist Party’s Military-Civil Fusion program. PSSI’s proprietary database analysis further demonstrates how many of these companies bundle satellite(s), launch services, ground stations, positioning, navigation and timing services, training, and subsidized financing to create long-term dependencies on Beijing and the loss of considerable sovereignty, while concealing China’s true intentions. Given the scope of these activities, U.S. and allied investors are often unwittingly underwriting the advanced capabilities of the Chinese military space program.
There is a new space race between the United States and its foremost strategic adversary, and it is not only taking place in space, but also on the ground. Unlike the Cold War version of the 1960s, focused on manned missions, today’s celestial contest is for a global network of ground-based assets that can provide military advantage both in space and here on Earth. China, sometimes working with Russia, seeks to infiltrate and influence the national space sectors of an estimated 123 countries — through some 800 deals to date — including dozens of U.S. allies. It is centered on Chinese enterprises that serve as a front for China’s military and its ambitious space program. These Chinese military space companies have already tapped into U.S. capital markets and private equity funds to finance a sizable portion of their malevolent activities, including a possible effort to militarize the Moon by the end of the decade.
The Ground Game of Authoritarian Space Powers was prepared by the Coalition for a Prosperous America (CPA) in conjunction with the Prague Security Studies Institute (PSSI). The findings of this report are supported by proprietary research on the PLA’s penetration, creation, and support of foreign space programs through what may appear to be normal cross-border commercial deals.
China has repeatedly gained access to the space sectors of foreign nations by offering vertically integrated “package deals” involving equipment, technologies, and services through companies that pose as ordinary private sector entities. Not surprisingly, these same companies are heavily involved in China’s weaponization of space and the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) broader plan to modernize the PLA for an asymmetric war against the United States.
China’s strategy of “space sector capture” is funded in part by millions of unwitting American investors despite the obvious threat to U.S. national security. This report provides examples of PLA-controlled space companies that have successfully secured American capital through publicly traded securities and private investment vehicles, including offshore funds registered within China’s borders.
China also uses corporate actions, like mergers and acquisitions, to access U.S. and allied space companies with sensitive technologies. Congress should pass legislation that prevents Chinese military companies and their subsidiaries from accessing U.S. capital markets and private equity funds. To do otherwise is to knowingly allow American investors to underwrite China’s hostile military space program — as is the case today.
CPA and PSSI seek to underscore three major trends that threaten core U.S. national security
interests:
China is using its corporate enterprises to penetrate and compromise foreign space sectors and programs to advance Beijing’s strategic space agenda;
These same PLA-tied space companies routinely — and without penalty — bypass U.S. sanctions and blacklists to secure capital through publicly traded securities and private investment vehicles, including offshore funds registered inside the PRC itself;
China’s successful penetration of foreign space programs represents an asymmetric advantage in the militarization of the space domain and a strategic threat to the national security of the United States.
The key findings of this report are based on nearly thirty years of data collected by PSSI, a leader in space security research. CPA’s joint China Space Security Initiative analyzed global capital flows into Chinese space companies controlled by the PLA. This first-of-its-kind case study clearly demonstrates China’s weaponization of space — and possibly the moon — using American and allied funding.
CPA is the leading national, bipartisan organization exclusively representing domestic producers and workers across many industries and sectors of the U.S. economy.
Report: Ground Game of Authoritarian Space Powers
The Coalition for a Prosperous America (CPA) and the Prague Security Studies Institute (PSSI) have released a joint report, Ground Game of Authoritarian Space Powers, which examines how China is pursuing a new space race not only in orbit, but on the ground. The initial report of the CPA/PSSI China Space Security Initiative (CSSI) details how Beijing is working to penetrate and control the space sectors of more than 120 countries through hundreds of ostensibly commercial agreements, via state-controlled Chinese companies that, in effect, act as fronts for the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
Drawing on PSSI’s open-source financial intelligence, the report reveals how Chinese military space firms secure American investment through publicly traded securities and private equity transactions, despite links to sanctioned defense contractors and the Chinese Communist Party’s Military-Civil Fusion program. PSSI’s proprietary database analysis further demonstrates how many of these companies bundle satellite(s), launch services, ground stations, positioning, navigation and timing services, training, and subsidized financing to create long-term dependencies on Beijing and the loss of considerable sovereignty, while concealing China’s true intentions. Given the scope of these activities, U.S. and allied investors are often unwittingly underwriting the advanced capabilities of the Chinese military space program.
The findings of this report also inspired the Fox Nation documentary special The Enemy Above , and were presented by PSSI Chairman Roger W. Robinson Jr. on Mornings with Maria (Fox Business).
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
There is a new space race between the United States and its foremost strategic adversary, and it is not only taking place in space, but also on the ground. Unlike the Cold War version of the 1960s, focused on manned missions, today’s celestial contest is for a global network of ground-based assets that can provide military advantage both in space and here on Earth. China, sometimes working with Russia, seeks to infiltrate and influence the national space sectors of an estimated 123 countries — through some 800 deals to date — including dozens of U.S. allies. It is centered on Chinese enterprises that serve as a front for China’s military and its ambitious space program. These Chinese military space companies have already tapped into U.S. capital markets and private equity funds to finance a sizable portion of their malevolent activities, including a possible effort to militarize the Moon by the end of the decade.
The Ground Game of Authoritarian Space Powers was prepared by the Coalition for a Prosperous America (CPA) in conjunction with the Prague Security Studies Institute (PSSI). The findings of this report are supported by proprietary research on the PLA’s penetration, creation, and support of foreign space programs through what may appear to be normal cross-border commercial deals.
China has repeatedly gained access to the space sectors of foreign nations by offering vertically integrated “package deals” involving equipment, technologies, and services through companies that pose as ordinary private sector entities. Not surprisingly, these same companies are heavily involved in China’s weaponization of space and the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) broader plan to modernize the PLA for an asymmetric war against the United States.
China’s strategy of “space sector capture” is funded in part by millions of unwitting American investors despite the obvious threat to U.S. national security. This report provides examples of PLA-controlled space companies that have successfully secured American capital through publicly traded securities and private investment vehicles, including offshore funds registered within China’s borders.
China also uses corporate actions, like mergers and acquisitions, to access U.S. and allied space companies with sensitive technologies. Congress should pass legislation that prevents Chinese military companies and their subsidiaries from accessing U.S. capital markets and private equity funds. To do otherwise is to knowingly allow American investors to underwrite China’s hostile military space program — as is the case today.
CPA and PSSI seek to underscore three major trends that threaten core U.S. national security interests:
The key findings of this report are based on nearly thirty years of data collected by PSSI, a leader in space security research. CPA’s joint China Space Security Initiative analyzed global capital flows into Chinese space companies controlled by the PLA. This first-of-its-kind case study clearly demonstrates China’s weaponization of space — and possibly the moon — using American and allied funding.
MADE IN AMERICA.
CPA is the leading national, bipartisan organization exclusively representing domestic producers and workers across many industries and sectors of the U.S. economy.
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