Australia warns against Chinese satellite surveillance amid alleged spy balloon row in US

The Australian Space Agency has issued an alert about China stepping up its satellite surveillance. The warning comes against the backdrop of Australia's Defense Space Command's claims to be developing a strategy to obtain so-called soft-kill technologies to destroy adversary satellites as reported by the Voice of America (VoA).

The United States shot down an alleged Chinese spy balloon in February, that it claimed was eavesdropping on important military installations throughout America. However, China argued that the aircraft was a civilian one and had deviated from its intended path. The two got into an argument about espionage and surveillance after the diplomatic dispute.

'We are being listened to and surveilled by Chinese satellites' says Australian expert

Australian experts think that worries about satellite spying have been overshadowed by the balloon event. China has a sizable space monitoring system, according to James Brown, Chief Executive Officer of the Space Industry Association of Australia (SIAA), who spoke to the Australian Broadcasting Corp. on Saturday, March 4.

“I think people just do not realize that every day we are being listened to and surveilled by Chinese satellites that are only 100 to 200 kilometres above our heads, and China is launching hundreds of them a year and we are seeing more and more of that activity," Brown said.

Defense Space Command in Australia is developing a strategy to purchase so-called soft-kill equipment to eliminate adversary satellites without producing hazardous debris. Australia wants to improve its electronic warfare capabilities to disrupt and damage satellites instead of employing missiles, but the necessary technology is not currently commercially accessible, VoA reported.

China launched more satellites than the US last year, says Australia's Air Vice Marshal Cath Roberts

Air Vice Marshal Cath Roberts, the command's chief, provided a status report on electronic warfare capabilities and threats against Australian satellites on Friday, March 3. She told reporters that to prevent assaults or obstruct hostile satellites, it was necessary to have "nondestructive" capabilities.

According to Roberts, there are now roughly 8,000 satellites in orbit, a more than twofold increase. Last year, China launched more satellites than the United States.