Australia Is a Key US Ally in the Space Conflict Against China

Trisha Kae Andrada, Tech Times 01 December 2022, 10:12 am

Australia is now a crucial asset for the US in its struggle against China.

There is a growing strategic battle between the US and China over space. As reported by South China Morning Post (SCMP), senior US military officers have warned that Beijing's technology is developing "very, very quickly" to reduce the capability gap.

Australia's Crucial Role

Lt. General Nina M. Armagno, the Director of Staff for the US Space Force, said that Australia's geographical position and professional expertise provided a "pot of gold at the end of the rainbow" for the two nations' strategic objectives in space defense.

Lt. Armagno stated that the location of Australia in the southern hemisphere was essential to the US for "space domain awareness." This refers to the ability to keep an eye on all objects, satellites, and debris in close orbit to the Earth.

"This is prime country for space domain awareness," she stated during an interview with SCMP in Canberra on Thursday, Dec. 1.

At the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, Lt. General John E. Shaw, Deputy Commander of the US Space Command, stated that constant monitoring of Earth's space required a concerted effort and that understanding what is occurring in our field was the command's greatest challenge.

The two generals went to Australia in order to meet with their colleagues and officials from the defense department.

Union of Powers

Over the last several years, Australia and the US have worked to improve their military ties in the wake of intensifying strategic rivalry with the Chinese government in the Asia-Pacific region.

The US, Britain, and Australia announced the establishment of a three-way security alliance in September 2021.

The agreement included a proposal to collaborate on the construction of a fleet of nuclear submarines for Canberra by the year 2040.

Concurrently, reports indicate that Australia, the US, and India have reformed the Quad partnership, an organization that aims to assist regional democracies to work together in response to China's ascent.

China's Space Defense

Even a few decades ago, Lt. Shaw noted that the Chinese government had only deployed a relatively small number of satellites.

Nonetheless, he said that Beijing's space capabilities were rapidly becoming more progressive. "They've advanced very, very quickly," according to him.

Tech Times reported in January that a Chinese moon lander set a record by discovering the existence of water on the moon for the very first time.

As per the deputy commander, the superior research capabilities that Australia has have been especially critical to the US space defenses. "Australia is a leader in quantum computing, we're going to be using those kinds of technologies in the future," he remarked.

Lt. Armagno expressed her belief that the strong partnership between the US and Australia, in addition to other Western nations, was the "secret sauce" that the Chinese leadership was missing.