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China’s rapid advancements in space eyed

WASHINGTON — Wary of China’s rapid advancements in space programs over the last decade, military commanders said Tuesday that the U.S. needs to improve its satellite presence in the Southern Hemisphere to better track launches from Asia, even as officials work to improve relations with Beijing.

Air Force Gen. Kevin Chilton, head of U.S. Strategic Command, said the U.S. wants to better understand where China is heading as it improves its space and satellite capabilities.

Chilton, who met with senior Chinese military leaders last week, described strains on the Pentagon’s space program that are forcing commanders to push satellites and other equipment beyond their designed life span and to press for schedules that allow no room for launch failures.

A big challenge, said Chilton, is that the U.S. is working with old satellites that were deployed during the Cold War. Many of those units focus largely on the Northern Hemisphere.

“We have shortfalls in the Southern Hemisphere,” said Lt. Gen. Larry James, commander of the Joint Functional Component Command for Space. “As you look at launches that would potentially come out of Asia and head south, you don’t get a look at those for some period of time due to the lack of coverage there. So we still have shortcomings we need to deal with.”

Chilton and James, who spoke to reporters at the close of Strategic Command’s space symposium this week, said improvements to U.S. programs and technologies are planned, but there is still a need for more money.

Chilton met with Gen. Xu Caihou, one of two vice chairmen of the People’s Republic of China’s Central Military Commission, during Xu’s visit to Strategic Command at Offutt Air Force Base south of Omaha, Neb. Chilton said the meeting was part of the effort to build a dialogue with the Chinese and encourage Beijing to be more transparent in its military goals.

U.S. officials have long sought greater clarity into China’s burgeoning military budget and programs, especially its space ambitions. Earlier this year China broke ground on its fourth space center, underscoring the nation’s plans to build an orbiting station and send a mission to the moon.

The U.S. continues to be suspicious of the communist giant’s intentions, including its development of anti-satellite weapons.

“Where they’re heading is one of the things a lot of people would like to understand better,” said Chilton. “They certainly are on a fast track to improve their capabilities.”

Chilton and James also said that the U.S. is on track to improve its ability to track satellites, particularly as part of an effort to avoid collisions in the increasingly crowded outer space.

James said the U.S. is able to perform collision analysis on 800 key satellites and will be able to cover all 1,300 active satellites by the end of the year.