Editing People's Liberation Army (section)

=== Space ===
{{See also|ASAT program of China}}
Having witnessed the crucial role of space to United States military success in the [[Gulf War]], China continues to view space as a critical domain in both conflict and international [[strategic competition]].<ref name="Cheng-2012">{{Cite journal |last=Cheng |first=Dean |date=2012 |title=China's military role in space |url=https://www.airuniversity.af.edu/Portals/10/SSQ/documents/Volume-06_Issue-1/Cheng.pdf |journal=[[Strategic Studies Quarterly]] |volume=6 |issue=1 |pages=55–77 |via=[[Air University (United States Air Force)|Air University]] |access-date=19 November 2022 |archive-date=19 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221119013057/https://www.airuniversity.af.edu/Portals/10/SSQ/documents/Volume-06_Issue-1/Cheng.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=July 2019 |title=China's National Defense in the New Era |url=https://www.andrewerickson.com/2019/07/full-text-of-defense-white-paper-chinas-national-defense-in-the-new-era-english-chinese-versions/ |website=Andrew S. Erickson: China analysis from original sources |access-date=19 November 2022 |archive-date=19 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221119013056/https://www.andrewerickson.com/2019/07/full-text-of-defense-white-paper-chinas-national-defense-in-the-new-era-english-chinese-versions/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The PLA operates a various satellite constellations performing [[Reconnaissance satellite|reconnaissance]], [[Satellite navigation|navigation]], [[Communications satellite|communication]], and [[Anti-satellite weapon|counterspace]] functions.<ref name="Clark">{{Cite web |last=Clark |first=Stephen |date=29 January 2021 |title=China launches military spy satellite trio into orbit |url=https://spaceflightnow.com/2021/01/29/china-launches-military-spy-satellite-trio-into-orbit/#:~:text=China%20uses%20the%20Yaogan%20name,are%20the%20Yaogan%2031%20satellites. |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221023185527/https://spaceflightnow.com/2021/01/29/china-launches-military-spy-satellite-trio-into-orbit/ |archive-date=23 October 2022 |website=Spaceflight Now}}</ref><ref name="op_china">{{cite news |date=27 December 2011 |title=China GPS rival Beidou starts offering navigation data |publisher=BBC |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-16337648 |url-status=live |access-date=20 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120203001904/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-16337648 |archive-date=3 February 2012}}</ref><ref name="Bruce-2021">{{Cite news |last=Bruce |first=Leo |date=26 November 2021 |title=China successfully launches tactical military communications satellite |work=[[NASA]] Spaceflight |url=https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2021/11/china-launches-military-satellite/ |access-date=19 November 2022 |archive-date=19 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221119013109/https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2021/11/china-launches-military-satellite/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Dickinson-2021a">{{Cite report |url=https://www.armed-services.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Dickinson04.20.2021.pdf |title=United States Space Command Presentation to the Senate Armed Services Committee U.S. Senate |last=Dickinson |first=General James H. |date=21 April 2021 |access-date=19 November 2022 |archive-date=26 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220826005031/https://www.armed-services.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Dickinson04.20.2021.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Planners at PLA's National Defense University project China's space actions as retaliatory or preventative, following conditions like an attack on a Chinese satellite, an attack on China, or the interruption of a PLA amphibious landing.<ref name=":Li">{{Cite book |last=Li |first=Xiaobing |title=China under Xi Jinping: A New Assessment |publisher=[[Leiden University Press]] |year=2024 |isbn=9789087284411 |editor-last=Fang |editor-first=Qiang |pages=266 |chapter=Beijing's Military Power and East Asian-Pacific Hot Spots |jstor=jj.15136086 |editor-last2=Li |editor-first2=Xiaobing}}</ref> According to this approach, PLA planners assume that the country must have the capacity for retaliation and second-strike capability against a powerful opponent.<ref name=":Li" /> PLA planners envision a limited space war and therefore seek to identify weak but critical nodes in other space systems.<ref name=":Li" />

Significant components of the PLA's space-based reconnaissance include Jianbing (vanguard) satellites with [[Front organization|cover names]] [[Yaogan]] ({{Zh|c=遥感|l=remote sensing|labels=no}}) and [[Gaofen]] ({{Zh|s=高分|labels=no|l=high resolution}}).<ref name="Clark"/><ref>{{Cite news |last=Jones |first=Andrew |date=22 November 2021 |title=China launches new Gaofen-11 high resolution spy satellite to match U.S. capabilities |work=[[SpaceNews]] |url=https://spacenews.com/china-launches-new-gaofen-11-high-resolution-spy-satellite-to-match-u-s-capabilities/ |access-date=19 November 2022 |archive-date=11 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240211032728/https://spacenews.com/china-launches-new-gaofen-11-high-resolution-spy-satellite-to-match-u-s-capabilities/ |url-status=live }}</ref> These satellites collect [[Electro-optical sensor|electro-optical]] (EO) imagery to collect a literal representation of a [[Targeting (warfare)|target]], [[Synthetic-aperture radar|synthetic aperture radar]] (SAR) imagery to penetrate the cloudy climates of [[South China|southern China]],<ref name="Sino Defense-2007">{{Cite web |date=12 November 2007 |title=JianBing 5 (YaoGan WeiXing 1/3) Synthetic Aperture Radar |url=http://www.sinodefence.com/strategic/spacecraft/jianbing5.asp |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080421185528/http://www.sinodefence.com/strategic/spacecraft/jianbing5.asp |archive-date=21 April 2008 |access-date=18 May 2022 |website=Sino Defense}}</ref> and [[electronic intelligence]] (ELINT) to provide targeting intelligence on adversarial ships.<ref>{{Cite web |date=20 September 2016 |title=The Chinese Maritime Surveillance System |url=https://satelliteobservation.net/2016/09/20/the-chinese-maritime-surveillance-system/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220317214541/https://satelliteobservation.net/2016/09/20/the-chinese-maritime-surveillance-system/ |archive-date=17 March 2022 |website=SatelliteObservation.net}}</ref><ref name="Blizzard-2016">{{Cite journal |last=Blizzard |first=Timothy J. |year=2016 |title=The PLA, A2/AD and the ADF: Lessons for Future Maritime Strategy |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26465599 |journal=Security Challenges |volume=12 |issue=3 |pages=69–70 |jstor=26465599 |access-date=19 November 2022 |archive-date=19 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221119013105/https://www.jstor.org/stable/26465599 |url-status=live }}</ref> The PLA also leverages a restricted, high-performance service of the country's BeiDou [[Positioning system|positioning, navigation, and timing]] (PNT) satellites for its forces and [[Intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance|intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance]] (ISR) platforms.<ref>{{cite web |year=2012 |title=Precise orbit determination of Beidou Satellites with precise positioning |url=http://earth.scichina.com:8080/sciDe/EN/abstract/abstract507876.shtml |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130617060128/http://earth.scichina.com:8080/sciDe/EN/abstract/abstract507876.shtml |archive-date=17 June 2013 |access-date=26 June 2013 |work=Science China}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Dotson |first=John |date=15 July 2020 |title=The Beidou Satellite Network and the 'Space Silk Road' in Eurasia |url=https://jamestown.org/program/the-beidou-satellite-network-and-the-space-silk-road-in-eurasia/ |access-date=2020-07-16 |newspaper=Jamestown |language=en-US |archive-date=16 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200716094445/http://jamestown.org/program/the-beidou-satellite-network-and-the-space-silk-road-in-eurasia/ |url-status=live }}</ref> For secure communications, the PLA uses the Zhongxing and Fenghuo series of satellites which enable secure data and voice transmission over [[C band (IEEE)|C-band]], [[Ku band|Ku-band]], and [[Ultra high frequency|UHF]].<ref name="Bruce-2021" /> PLA deployment of anti-satellite and counterspace satellites including those of the [[Shijian]] and [[Shiyan]] series have also brought significant concern from western nations.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Smith |first=Marcia |date=19 August 2013 |title=Surprise Chinese Satellite Maneuvers Mystify Western Experts |work=SpacePolicyOnline |url=https://spacepolicyonline.com/news/surprise-chinese-satelllite-maneuvers-mystify-western-experts/ |access-date=19 November 2022 |archive-date=28 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221128213524/https://spacepolicyonline.com/news/surprise-chinese-satelllite-maneuvers-mystify-western-experts/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Dickinson-2021a"/><ref name="Jones-2022">{{Cite news |last=Jones |first=Andrew |date=27 January 2022 |title=China's Shijian-21 towed dead satellite to a high graveyard orbit |work=[[SpaceNews]] |url=https://spacenews.com/chinas-shijian-21-spacecraft-docked-with-and-towed-a-dead-satellite/ |access-date=19 November 2022 |archive-date=3 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230203142431/https://spacenews.com/chinas-shijian-21-spacecraft-docked-with-and-towed-a-dead-satellite/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

The PLA also plays a significant role in the [[Chinese space program]].<ref name="Cheng-2012" /> To date, all the participants have been selected from members of the PLA Air Force.<ref name="Cheng-2012" /> China became the third country in the world to have sent a man into space by its own means with the flight of [[Yang Liwei]] aboard the [[Shenzhou 5]] spacecraft on 15 October 2003,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Yardley |first=Jim |date=15 October 2003 |title=China Sends a Man Into Orbit, Entering the U.S.–Russian Club |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/15/world/china-sends-a-man-into-orbit-entering-the-us-russian-club.html |access-date=19 November 2022 |archive-date=19 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221119013057/https://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/15/world/china-sends-a-man-into-orbit-entering-the-us-russian-club.html |url-status=live }}</ref> the flight of [[Fei Junlong]] and [[Nie Haisheng]] aboard [[Shenzhou 6]] on 12 October 2005,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Mali |first=Tariq |date=18 October 2005 |title=Shenzhou 6 Taikonauts Achieve Firsts for China |work=[[SpaceNews]] |url=https://spacenews.com/shenzhou-6-taikonauts-achieve-firsts-china/ |access-date=19 November 2022 |archive-date=11 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240211032741/https://spacenews.com/shenzhou-6-taikonauts-achieve-firsts-china/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and [[Zhai Zhigang]], [[Liu Boming (taikonaut)|Liu Boming]], and [[Jing Haipeng]] aboard [[Shenzhou 7]] on 25 September 2008.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Jones |first=Andrew |date=7 November 2021 |title=China's Shenzhou 13 crew takes its first spacewalk, the country's 1st by a female astronaut |work=[[Space.com]] |url=https://www.space.com/china-shenzhou-13-first-female-spacewalk |access-date=19 November 2022 |archive-date=7 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211107191224/https://www.space.com/china-shenzhou-13-first-female-spacewalk |url-status=live }}</ref>

The PLA started the development of an anti-ballistic and anti-satellite system in the 1960s, code named Project 640, including ground-based lasers and anti-satellite missiles.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Stokes |first=Mark A. |url=https://press.armywarcollege.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1148&context=monographs |title=China's Strategic Modernization: Implications for the United States |date=1999 |publisher=Diane Publishing |isbn=978-1-4289-1197-0 |language=en |access-date=19 November 2022 |archive-date=12 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221112034405/https://press.armywarcollege.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1148&context=monographs |url-status=live }}</ref> On 11 January 2007, China conducted a successful [[2007 Chinese anti-satellite missile test|test]] of an [[anti-satellite missile]], with an SC-19 class KKV.<ref name="channelnewsasia.com">[http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/253580/1/.html China plays down fears after satellite shot down] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929015038/http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/253580/1/.html |date=29 September 2011 }}, [[Agence France-Presse|AFP]] via [[MediaCorp Channel NewsAsia|Channelnewsasia]], 20 January 2007</ref>

The PLA has tested two types of hypersonic space vehicles, the Shenglong Spaceplane and a new one built by [[Chengdu Aircraft Corporation]]. Only a few pictures have appeared since it was revealed in late 2007. Earlier, images of the High-enthalpy Shock Waves Laboratory [[wind tunnel]] of the [[Chinese Academy of Sciences|CAS]] Key Laboratory of high-temperature gas dynamics (LHD) were published in the Chinese media. Tests with speeds up to Mach 20 were reached around 2001.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://lhd.imech.cas.cn/kyzb/201307/t20130723_116736.html |title=氢氧爆轰驱动激波高焓风洞 |publisher=中国科学院高温气体动力学重点实验室 |date=17 March 2005 |access-date=16 April 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304002515/http://lhd.imech.cas.cn/kyzb/201307/t20130723_116736.html |archive-date=4 March 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="strategycenter.net">{{cite web |last=Fisher, Jr. |first=Richard |date=29 June 2011 |title=PLA and U.S. Arms Racing in the Western Pacific |url=http://www.strategycenter.net/research/pubID.247/pub_detail.asp |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140131161229/http://www.strategycenter.net/research/pubID.247/pub_detail.asp |archive-date=31 January 2014 |access-date=20 June 2012 |website=[[International Assessment and Strategy Center]] |publisher= |quote=It is also possible that during this decade the PLA Navy could deploy initial railgun and laser weapons. It is known that the PLA has invested heavily in both technologies. |df=dmy-all}}</ref>