US agency warns China may field orbital energy weapons

A U.S. Defence Intelligence Agency report, titled Challenges to Security in Space and published on Sunday, says China could use directed-energy weapons in orbit by the end of the 2020s. The report says China already has earthbound energy weapons able to disrupt, degrade or damage satellites, and it includes an image of a newly developed reusable spaceplane. Victoria Samson of the Secure World Foundation said she would be surprised if China fielded space-based laser weapons by the late 2020s. The state-run Global Times has accused the U.S. of exaggerating Chinese and Russian space threats while expanding its own military presence in orbit.