U.S. Intelligence China Could Put Laser Weapons in Space by 2030

OilPrice.com · Haley Zaremba · 2026-10-31 21:00 UTC

A new DIA report says China could have space-based laser weapons by the late 2020s. One analyst is skeptical, and Beijing is pushing back.

A new United States intelligence report warns that China is developing energy weapons and spaceplanes that it could use for military operations in outer space, with the capability of using directed-energy weapons in orbit by the end of the 2020s. The US Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) report, published on Sunday, includes a rare image of the newly developed reusable spaceplane.

The DIA report, entitled Challenges to Security in Space, is the first time that the U.S. government has offered an estimated timeline for China’s development of space-based energy weapons. Beijing already has established earthbound energy weapons, which are capable of disrupting, degrading, and/or damaging satellites, and will also be stronger by the end of the 2020s, with the ability to impact satellites beyond low Earth orbit. These new space-based energy weapons would add an even more dangerous new disruptive capability to that arsenal.

However, not all reports are as alarmist as the findings from the DIA. Victoria Samson, chief director of space security and stability at the Secure World Foundation, told the South China Morning Post. “I would be very surprised if China fielded space-based laser weapons by the late 2020s,” she said.

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