China could overtake the United States in terms of space capabilities by 2030 if the United States doesn’t speed up its development, warned Gen. David Thompson, vice chief of space operations for the U.S. Space Force.
“The fact [is] that in essence, on average, they are building and fielding and updating their space capabilities at twice the rate we are,” Thompson said during a panel discussion at the Reagan National Defense Forum in California on Dec. 4. “If we don’t start accelerating our development and delivery capabilities, they will exceed us. And 2030 is not an unreasonable estimate.”
