The video explores the increasing competition and complexity in space as global superpowers, especially the United States, China, and Russia, vie for dominance. The United States maintains lead interest with numerous satellites and is supported by ventures such as SpaceX. China has overtaken Russia in the race, showcasing its advancements and ambitions alongside rival projects like Starlink. The intricate relationship between civilian space activities and potential military applications raises security concerns across nations.

Disruptions in space impact Earth significantly—cyberattacks on critical satellites can disable communications, affecting both civilian and military operations. The reliance of global functions—navigation, emergency services, and climate monitoring—on satellites highlights their importance. The ongoing developments in anti-satellite weaponry augment this competition, adding elements of risk and uncertainty to space activities.

Main takeaways from the video:

Please remember to turn on the CC button to view the subtitles.

Key Vocabularies and Common Phrases:

1. cyberattack [ˈsaɪbərætæk] - (noun) - An attempt to access, damage, or disrupt computer systems, networks, or services without authorization. - Synonyms: (hacking, breach, infiltration)

This satellite, KSAT, got hit by a cyberattack.

2. spoofing [ˈspuː.fɪŋ] - (noun) - A deceptive act where someone pretends to be someone else to deceive others, often used in contexts like electronic communications. - Synonyms: (deception, impersonation, falsification)

It's called spoofing.

3. jamming [ˈdʒæmɪŋ] - (noun) - The deliberate interference with the operation of a wireless communication device or system. - Synonyms: (disruption, blocking, hindrance)

Then there is jamming, interrupting the signal.

4. constellation [ˌkɒn.stəˈleɪ.ʃən] - (noun) - A group of satellites working together as a system. - Synonyms: (cluster, assembly, group)

They are part of a planned mega constellation of 14,000 satellites.

5. broadband [ˈbrɔːd.bænd] - (noun) - A high-capacity transmission technique using a wide range of frequencies, which enables a large number of messages to be communicated simultaneously. - Synonyms: (high-speed Internet, cable, DSL)

Musk satellites provide Internet broadband through Starlink.

6. countermeasure [ˈkæʊn.təˌmeʒ.ə] - (noun) - An action taken to counteract or neutralize another action, often used in military tactics. - Synonyms: (defense, safeguard, precaution)

These are all methods and sort of attacks and countermeasures that we're currently seeing being deployed in Ukraine as well

7. transparency [trænsˈpærənsi] - (noun) - The quality of being open, honest, and clearly visible, ensuring that operations or actions are easily understood. - Synonyms: (clarity, openness, visibility)

China lacks transparency on its activities and is acting irresponsibly.

8. interfere [ˌɪn.təˈfɪə(r)] - (verb) - To meddle in affairs or operations in a way that hinders or bleaches effectiveness. - Synonyms: (obstruct, meddle, disrupt)

Space, you will start seeing each side trying to disrupt and interfere with the other side's ability to use space.

9. manoeuver [məˈnuːvər] - (noun) - A movement or series of moves requiring skill and care to achieve a strategic goal. - Synonyms: (maneuver, tactic, strategy)

No one wants to really give up any freedom of maneuver.

10. remotely [rɪˈməʊt.li] - (adverb) - From a distance; without physical proximity or direct contact. - Synonyms: (distantly, virtually, indirectly)

It was not possible to control them remotely.

China or the US: Who is winning the new space race? | Mapped Out

Global superpowers are competing for dominance in space. They are launching more rockets than ever, bringing a whole lot more satellites up there. It's getting busy and they are building mysterious spaceships. Space has always been a contested arena, but what we are seeing right now brings it to another level. We want a new space age. The United States is still the most powerful country up there, partly thanks to this Mandev. But I do think it's more interesting what's happening in sort of second and third place. And China has overtaken Russia for second place. So it's worth looking up, because what's happening up there impacts what's happening down here. And if something goes wrong in space, it could completely disrupt things on Earth. Hollywood loves a doomsday scenario, like when all satellite navigation fails. Its over the top, but actually not by much. We all massively depend on satellites, the human made machines that orbit our planet. Have you used a navigation app today? Definitely. Satellites check the weather. Absolutely. Satellites transferred money. Could be satellites or searched for something on the Internet. Odds are satellites. But that's just the obvious stuff. Satellites track earthquakes, forest fires or flooding. They help understand climate change and they are essential to military operations, as we'll see in a bit.

And this is one of the places where satellites are launched into space. This is space launch complexity. At Cape Canaveral Space Force station, similar launch sites exist all over the world. Up to 50 new satellites are put into space every week. This animation shows how it works up there. Fascinating, right? Most satellites are in lower orbit around Earth, some further away. Right now, there are more than 10,000 active satellites in space. Look at all those dots. The red ones are satellites, and the US has the most, more than 8000, including many commercial ones. China operates more than 700 satellites, and Russia has a little over 200. And it will only get busier up there. By 2030, there could be 60,000 satellites in space. And sometimes they can determine the outcome of a war.

On February 24, 2022, Russia launched its full scale invasion of Ukraine. That is well known. But there is a more obscure story that is not as well known. From the early hours of that same day, across Europe, communication with thousands of wind turbines broke down. They were still operating, but for quite some time, it was not possible to control them remotely. What had happened? This satellite, KSAT, got hit by a cyberattack. The US and EU accused Russia of being behind it. KSAT provides broadband Internet not only for wind turbines, but also. And this is much more important for our story, for Ukraine and its military. Cyber experts think Russia wanted to disrupt communication of ukrainian forces, to blindside them before invading. Timing is everything. It has taught us to actually conduct a counter space attack, counter space measure. You don't need to be in space. Right? It can be a hack. It can be a cyber attack.

This is Joyana Zeus. She is a research fellow on space security at the Royal United Services Institute, an independent think tank in London. You don't need to be a sophisticated space power to actually disrupt space systems. Ukraine regained Internet connection, at least partially with the help of Starlink, the satellite communications company owned by Elon Musk. We'll get to him a bit later. So we've just learned about cyberattacks. They target the data itself that is being transmitted by a satellite and the systems that control the data flow. But there are more ways to disrupt space operations. Most involve interfering with the radio signals coming to and from satellites, specifically those used by navigation satellites like GPS, the global positioning system. This is a challenge. For example, for aircraft, it's called spoofing. When the attackers send a powerful false signal, overwhelming the original one, the airplane's navigation system can then show the wrong location. Then there is jamming, interrupting the signal. That means the airplane no longer has navigation data.

These are all methods and sort of attacks and countermeasures that we're currently seeing being deployed in Ukraine as well. spoofing, jamming and cyberattacks are very common. Why? Because they are relatively cheap and difficult to track. Russia jams a lot of different space systems in jeopardizing things like civilian commercial air traffic. We know also that the US is quite advanced in its jamming and spoofing sort of capabilities.

And then there is. Watch the moment a russian anti satellite weapon destroys an obsolete soviet satellite. Cosmos 1408. This was just a test and a demonstration of russian capability, but it's still dangerous. The debris from such an attack can damage or even destroy other satellites in space. This animation shows how that could play out. It does not look good. Astronauts from the International Space Station had to take shelter because of the dangerous debris from the russian test. They got a warning message waking them up that morning. We were recently informed of a satellite breakup and need to have you guys start reviewing the safe haven procedure.

So Russia has shown it can destroy another country's satellite by destroying their own, and so have India, China and the United States. But we have seen no one has physically destroyed somebody else's satellite deliberately. Dean Cheng has extensively covered the chinese space program and is now working with the United States Institute of Peace. Inevitably, in space, you will start seeing each side trying to disrupt and interfere with the other side's ability to use space. So now we know some of the attacks taking place. Look at the most important players up there, and who could win the new space race.

The history of space exploration started with a bitter setback for the United States and a triumph for its cold war rival, the Soviet Union. On October 4, 1957, the Soviets launched the first ever satellite, Sputnik one, into space. Shortly after, the Soviets even sent a dog up there, Laika, the first living creature to be launched into Earth orbit. In 1958, the US caught up with its own successful launches. The first space race was off and running. The wild blue yonder had become yet another realm for the superpowers to compete. There's a lot more to say, but we need to fast forward a few decades.

Let's turn out rising anxieties over a new arms race in space. The US is again investing heavily in its space capabilities. No other country has more satellites in orbit. More than 8000, as we mentioned. But did you know that more than 6000 of those belong to SpaceX, a company founded by the richest man on Earth, Elon Musk? So the US has the most successful commercial space player in its ranks. Musk satellites provide Internet broadband through Starlink. That's the part of SpaceX that operates the satellites. They can cover even the most remote corners of the planet, such as deep in the Amazon rainforest. That does not come without criticism. Us lawmakers are worried how much the us military is relying on a moody billionaire. But yes, that is a different story.

Space is so important to the US that in 2019, they created a new branch of the us military to deal with it. The United States Space Force, to be precise. Donald Trump did when he was president. His vice president made it pretty clear why the US thinks it needs to strengthen its presence in space. The United States faces emerging threats in space for countries like China and Russia, and those threats are only growing. So the message is obvious. Up there is where the US thinks it can't afford to fall behind.

In 2024, Space Force had a budget of $29 billion. NASA, the us civilian space agency, got another 25 billion. Space Force uses those billions for new subordinate commands, like for Europe and Africa and Ramstein, Germany. This is the new commander, Brigadier General Jacob Middleton, taking over. Our adversaries recognize the importance of space. That's what makes space a contested environment. We see the US still as the predominant space power. But I do think it's more interesting what's happening in sort of second and third place. Russia is falling behind in space. Despite all the headlines, sanctions, corruption and its aging infrastructure have left the space pioneer in the slow lane. Russia, which was always the first space power that we saw with the launch of Sputnik back in 1957.

It had to cede its second place to China, which has been rapidly building up its space capabilities over the last couple of years. And China has big plans. Its an up and coming power on Earth and in space. China has launched an unprecedented mission to the far side of the moon. And they brought back lunar rocks from there. Nobody did that before. The People's Republic is eager to show off its capabilities. But this isn't all China has planned in space. It aims to become the leading global space power by 2045. The universe is the limit and China is building the infrastructure like this launch site in the country's north. Recently, 18 rockets with satellites were launched here.

They are part of a planned mega constellation of 14,000 satellites, rivaling Elon Musk's Starlink. I think we are in a new space race. Arguably, we're in a new space age. The US and China are in a strategic competition that is becoming ever more adversarial. NASA chief Bill Nelson puts it this way. China has made extraordinary strides, especially in the last ten years, but they are very, very secretive. We believe that a lot of their so called civilian space program is a military program. And I think, in effect, we are in a race.

Thank you. Look at what happened in Taiwan. Just days before their election in January 2024, Taiwan's foreign minister, Joseph Wu, was giving a press conference when an emergency alert for the island sounded. China gave no warning of the launch, and the taiwanese government said a rocket flying over its territory was a reminder of the danger of war with China. Remember, China has long claimed Taiwan as its territory. If you want more on that story, check out our episode on the Taiwan standoff.

But what can we learn from this for our story? The Chinese provide very little hard information. For example, we do not know something as simple as how much does China spend on space? I think there's certainly a sort of non transparency aspect to it. The US and other western countries say exactly that. China lacks transparency on its activities and is acting irresponsibly. Here's another China launched satellites, which are allegedly equipped with a net and a robotic arm. They say it is to clear debris. There are no pictures of it, too hush hush. But this animation shows what the robotic arm might look like. But what is it for?

One incident from 2022 could provide clues. Thats when China used the technology in ways not previously seen. A chinese satellite was observed grabbing another old chinese satellite and pulling it out of its normal orbit. That left us experts worried. Was it testing a new offensive capability to be used against other countries? They know that in doing this, they are also sending a signal to the west, to Japan, to any country that operates space systems. We could really interfere with your space systems if we chose to. China repeatedly says it wants to use space peacefully. Space is a shared asset of humanity. We are committed to peaceful utilization of space and stand ready to work with all countries with the same commitment to strengthen exchanges, deepen cooperation, and contribute to lasting peace and common security in space.

Something critics doubt, especially because the civilian and military usage seem so intertwined. The heads of key parts of the chinese space program are military. So, yes, if you work with China in space, you are working with the People's Liberation army. You are working with the chinese military. China, on the other hand, has accused the US of militarizing space. In 2022, a us surveillance satellite approached two chinese satellites. The incident raised concerns in China. Will China catch up or even surpass the US? To answer this question, we have to finally turn to the mysterious spaceships. We mentioned them at the very beginning.

Here's what the us mysterious spaceship looks like. It's called X 37 B. It's reusable and unmanned. Since 2010, it has been going on highly classified missions to orbitze, where it allegedly carries out experiments. China has now succeeded in building a similar spacecraft, Shanglong. China has never released pictures of it. The chinese space plane almost certainly was developed in response to the X 37 B. So why are these space planes so important? Both countries see the other mysterious spaceships as a potential threat. The secrecy around X 37 B and Shanglong has even led to speculation they could be used as weapon platforms.

So who will win the new space race? The US or China? Well, first off, this space race is a marathon. The Chinese are in some ways very much a peer to the United States, and arguably even ahead of the west. The US is still in the lead, but China definitely has the aim also to be a predominant space by 2045.

So what's next? More competition? Or is there another way? So space is only going to matter more. It's going to become busier, a more congested space, and it's going to be more contested as well. As we see more actors sort of entering space as well, there's more need for roles than ever. Space is a domain like Antarctica and the high seas. It belongs to no country. So far, there are not many rules in place. The only real one is the outer space treaty of 1967. More than 100 countries have signed it, including the US, China and Russia. But the treaty is old and only loosely regulates activities in space. It bans nuclear weapons up there, but has nothing on anti satellite weapons for, for example.

No one wants to really give up any freedom of maneuver. I don't think we're really going to see any real progress on this in the next couple of years. What happens in space is a reflection what happens on Earth. So competition it is with networks of satellites and the weapons to destroy them. As long as China and the US are rivals on Earth, space is just another arena.

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