By Jia Feimao | 2025-05-26

Taiwan must capitalize on its strengths and deepen alliances by building a "space shield" to warn of gray-zone incursions as China's militarization of space poses an urgent threat, say analysts.

"Deepening cooperation between China and Russia in the space sector threatens Taiwan national security," Jason Wang, CEO of ingeniSPACE, wrote in Commonwealth Magazine on May 1.

Modern defense, from communication and intelligence to long-range strikes, depends on large space systems, he said.

Should China seize orbital dominance, it could paralyze Taiwan's critical defense systems and infrastructure, he wrote.

Wang outlined a suite of gray-zone space tactics Beijing may deploy, namely disguising threatening satellites as debris, steering space junk toward critical spacecraft, launching cyberattacks on ground stations and jamming Global Positioning System (GPS) and weather satellites.

Although these tactics would not represent a "Space Pearl Harbor," they could sever civilian services, spark economic chaos and erode "the public's confidence in the government or the Allied commitment," weakening Taiwan's will and capacity to defend itself, Wang wrote.

Taiwan's Quadrennial Defense Review, released by the Ministry of National Defense on March 18, expressed similar concerns.

The Chinese military may use multi-domain tactics, including space satellites, under its layered anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy to paralyze and besiege Taiwan, it warned.

Growing threat

The latest concerns come as Russia and China have increased cooperation in space in recent years.

Two 2022 agreements between China's BeiDou and Russia's GLONASS satellite navigation systems sought system compatibility and complementarity, as well as mutual ground monitoring stations in each other's territories.

These steps aimed to enhance the precision and reliability of both systems, with the ultimate goal of establishing universal navigation modules and enhancing global positioning and strategic strike capabilities.

The collaboration could increase their capacity for intelligence collection and electronic warfare, tipping the orbital balance of power. It could sharpen Beijing's reconnaissance edge over the Indo-Pacific, especially near Taiwan, say analysts.

Beijing's space ambitions constitute a "powerful destabilizing force" in the increasingly contested domain, US Space Force Chief of Space Operations Gen. B. Chance Saltzman stated at a Congressional hearing on April 3.

China's "kill web" of hundreds of satellites poses the region's greatest threat, alongside Russia's reckless orbital behavior, he told POLITICO May 15.

China's rapid advancement in optical and radar satellites makes Taiwan's military sites ever more exposed, Chou Ruo-min of Taiwan's Institute for National Defense and Security Research warned.

Closer China-Russia cooperation in military satellites, anti-satellite weaponry, and space sensing would heighten US concerns over the security of its satellite constellations and global surveillance systems, said Chou.

For Taiwan, which relies heavily on US and allied satellite data for communication, navigation, meteorology and Earth observation, the threat is especially pressing.

Countering China

To counter China's sophisticated in-orbit activities, Taiwan urgently needs a "space shield," or a robust Space Domain Awareness (SDA) capability, wrote ingeniSPACE CEO Wang.

Leveraging its semiconductor and computing strengths, Taiwan should collaborate with allies like Japan, South Korea and the United States to enhance monitoring networks and build analytical capacity using advanced technologies, effectively detecting, deterring and responding to threats before they escalate, he added.

Taiwan is not completely defenseless, according to Chou.

"Taiwan's greatest advantage in entering the US-led SDA system lies in its unique geostrategic location," Chou said.

Positioned at the core of the first island chain in the West Pacific, the island can serve as a frontline observation hub for partners such as the United States and Japan.

Taipei's "world-class capabilities in semiconductors and radar systems" provide a solid foundation for key technologies like ground radar tracking, signal processing and automated identification algorithms, she said.

Still, Taiwan currently lacks the capacity for independent SDA, she noted, pointing to insufficient large-scale observation equipment and the absence of independent systems, as well as defense budgets that heavily favor traditional military domains over space.

To close this gap, Chou suggests establishing a regional SDA cooperation framework with the United States and Japan -- one that blends military-civilian data sharing, commercial radar partnerships and domestic monitoring innovation to bolster Taiwan's autonomous response and defense posture.