Space Force Secretly Tested Sensors that Alert When China Is Watching
March 7, 2025 | By Greg Hadley
AURORA, Colo.—The Space Rapid Capabilities Office quietly launched prototype payloads on a satellite two years ago to signal operators when the spacecraft is being tracked by China’s space surveillance network—a capability the office could deploy aboard other satellites.
Director Kelly Hammett revealed the tests during a media roundtable at the AFA Warfare Symposium as an example of the Space RCO’s operational successes.
“We launched some situational awareness indications and warning payloads on the [LDPE-3A], a satellite in January of 2023 that those payloads have been flying for a couple of years now, collecting all kinds of very interesting data on, I’ll say, the Chinese SISO network,” Hammett said.
A SISO network refers to the sensors and radars used for Space Object Surveillance and Identification. China in recent years has launched hundreds of intelligence satellites to watch Earth, but less is known about how China monitors space.
https://www.airandspaceforces.com/space-force-payloads-china-watching/
