A bipartisan pair of senators introduced a bill last week aiming to ensure the US military is prepared for conflict with Beijing in orbit.
The details: Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) and Katie Britt (R-AL) introduced the Space Superiority Readiness Act on Friday. The bill comes after the two senators visited Greenland’s Pituffik Space Base in May as part of a bipartisan group of eight senators. The visit included learning more about missile-warning systems and space operations, as well as touring the Space Force’s 12th Space Warning Squadron.
“Communist China is expanding its military activities in space, and the United States cannot afford to fall behind,” Cortez Masto said in a statement. “I know that by providing Guardians with the tools, training, and resources they need, they will continue to be ready to confront any threat.”
Train up: The first part of the bill directs the defense secretary to expand the Space Force’s ability to conduct wargaming, modeling, and simulation of in-space conflict with a near-peer adversary, to make sure Guardians are prepared to respond to a range of scenarios.
In addition, the bill would direct the Pentagon to develop new training for troops operating in space, with the training focused specifically on “tactics, techniques, and procedures necessary for space control operations.”
Dive deep: The bill would also order the Pentagon to provide an unclassified report to Congress about the Chinese commercial space sector—and how those private capabilities could be used in national-security applications.
- DoD already briefs lawmakers on China’s military and security capabilities annually with an unclassified report—including a chapter on the People Liberation Army’s space operations.
- The report ordered by the bill, however, would focus not on government and military tech, but on developments in the Chinese commercial space industry.
- Non-government groups—including CSIS and the Secure World Foundation—also produce annual space threat assessments, which include commercial advancements— but these groups cover global threats, not just China.
What’s next: The bill was introduced as a standalone piece of legislation. But a spokesperson for Cortez Mastro told Space News that the senator also filed it as an amendment to the FY27 NDAA. The annual defense authorization bill has passed the Senate Armed Services Committee, but the bill has not yet been considered by the full chamber.
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