Strategic Trajectories Assessing China’s Space Rise and the Risks to U.S. Leadership
House Science, Space, and Technology Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics
2025-12-04
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Source: Congress.gov
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Good morning. The Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics will come to order. Without objection, the Chair is authorized to declare recesses of the Subcommittee at any time. Welcome to today's hearing, Strategic Trajectories Assessing China's Space Rise and the Risks to United States Leadership. I'll recognize myself for five minutes for our opening statement. The topic today we'll address is nothing more than a critical issue and defining challenge for this committee, understanding China's bold ambitions, addressing their unapologetic drive for dominance in space. We are at the start of the next age of exploration, one where humanity is not just observing the cosmos, but acting on its observations and beginning to inhabit it. For those who are new to this issue, The question we should be asking as we explore beyond the planet is, will humanity carry forward the American values of economic and political freedom, or those of the Chinese Communist Party? For generations, the United States led humanity into space with unmatched ingenuity and without a true rival. However, that situation is changing as China moves methodically, relentlessly, and ruthlessly to tighten its grip on space capabilities and seek the strategic advantage by any means possible. History reminds us that great power competition shapes the destiny of civilizations. Just as the rivalry between Spain and Great Britain defined oceans in the 16th and 17th The competition between the United States and China will define the space domain today. Whoever leads beyond Earth will shape the future of Earth. Let's go back to 1957. China's ambitions goes back decades.
Moments after Sputnik shook the world, Chairman Mao declared, we too will make satellites. That declaration ignited a vision that has never faded. In 1992, China sent into motion Project 921, its human space fight program, which continues today. In recent years, China's pace has surged, in part due to the declaration of the Space Dream, which transformed aspirations into coordinated missions for dominance. China's space sector has since surged forward, aimed to compete with America's world-leading commercial space industry. This is not an accident. It is strategic. To be clear, the objective is not merely to keep up. Their objective is to outpace, outmaneuver, and ultimately defeat our nation, the United States of America. But America is not standing still. In my district, Kennedy Space Center, we surpassed 100 launchers just two weeks ago. 95 launches came from one company, SpaceX, who first launched in 2006. China is not even close with around 73 launches. Still, Beijing is pressing ahead. Their plans include landing their astronauts on the lunar surface by 2030 and constructing research space on the moon's south pole by 2035. They are also launching historic firsts. China has already returned lunar samples from the far side of the moon, the first to do so. Next, they intend to launch a Mars sample return mission in 2028, a timeline that may beat the United States. In low Earth orbit, we plan to de-orbit our own space station. China has maintained a continuous human presence on its own space station since 2021, where their astronauts serve in six-month rotations.
In the coming years, China intends to deploy its own space-based internet service and expand its global alternative to GPS. And while this committee's jurisdiction covers commercial and civil space programs, we cannot ignore their Army's rapidly advancing space and counter space capabilities. Their systems are designed to threaten, disrupt, and if necessary, take out United States assets in space. So again, I ask, will humanity move forward with American values of economic and political freedom, or those of the communist Chinese? The reality is stark. China possesses a real, immediate, and long-term threat to the United States' leadership in space. And fortunately, today's witnesses will provide us with more detailed overview of China's trajectory in history, strategy, and intentions. They will also share recommendations about how this committee and Congress should respond to this true challenge. I thank our distinguished panel today for being here today and sharing their expertise with us. And I look forward to a serious, productive conversation about the challenges we face today. But before I move forward, I'd like to ask for unanimous consent for a statement from the full committee by Dr. Babin to present that copy. and without objections to that, ordered.
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