FPI / January 2, 2026
By Richard Fisher
On Dec. 24, 2025, the United States Department of War issued its annual report to Congress on “China Military Power Report” (CMPR), that since 2000 has constituted the most credible description of China’s growing military produced by any government, especially that of China.
The 2025 report, the first of the Second Trump Administration, comes in at 100 pages but is perhaps the best issue ever of this annual report — with the caveat attributable to all reports that they could make far greater use of U.S. source and Chinese source imagery to make their case.
In addition, there are usually areas of the report that could use greater explanation.
This year’s CMPR provides a useful explanation of Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) and the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) use of space, with the PLA’s newly formed Aerospace Force as the dominant command authority in China’s national space program.
CMPR begins its overview of China’s space effort saying:
“Throughout 2024, China expanded its space launch, SATCOM, and ISR capabilities, hastened development of LEO megaconstellations that will provide additional SATCOM resilience, and relied on its commercial space sector to drive innovation. These improved space-based capabilities likely enhance the PLA’s effectiveness by improving space situational awareness, increasing its ability to detect U.S. aircraft carriers and expeditionary forces, and enabling long-range precision strikes against U.S. and allied forces.” (p.25)
It then details specific sectors of Chinese space activity starting with “Space Launch,” saying:
“China is expanding its space launch capabilities to meet broader military, civil, and commercial space goals, including reducing launch costs and achieving the launch cadence necessary to rapidly sustain and replace satellites composing LEO megaconstellations that will counter U.S. systems.” (p.25)
CMPR does not mention that up to 15 Chinese companies are developing reusable space launch vehicles, and while perhaps not many succeed, many have the potential to be as capable and active as the U.S. SpaceX Corporation.
CMPR also highlights the importance to the PLA of China’s rapidly growing “commercial” space sector, saying:
“China’s commercial space sector has rapidly expanded and become a key pillar of its efforts to achieve space goals by filling gaps and spurring technical innovation, which will ultimately assist the PLA with its military modernization efforts. Many of China’s commercial companies are part of its military-civil fusion strategy to develop dual-use technologies in the commercial sector for eventual integration into the military.” (p.26)
It adds: “China’s commercial companies Galactic Energy, Deep Blue Aerospace, Space Pioneer, iSpace, and Landspace have significantly expanded their space launch infrastructure to support their plans to conduct inaugural test flights of several developmental rockets with increased lift capacity in 2025 and 2026.” (p.25)
Information Surveillance Reconnaissance (ISR)
CMPR highlights how the PLA is exploiting space, increasing its constellation of satellites devoted to information, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), saying:
“As of January 2024, China’s ISR satellite fleet contained more than 359 systems, more than tripling its on-orbit collection presence since 2018. This includes over 100 low earth orbit (LEO)-based Jilin-1 imaging satellites on orbit. The PLA is also investing in and fielding new and novel technologies including a persistent imaging capability from geostationary orbit (GEO) and automated detection and tracking from LEO satellites. These capabilities, coupled with the PLA’s growing space-based ISR order of battle has dramatically increased its ability to monitor, track, and target U.S. and allied forces both terrestrially and on orbit.” (p.22)
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