China Aerospace Studies Institute March 2024
PLA On-Orbit Satellite Logistics
Kristin Burke
The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is preparing its satellite operators to perform on-
orbit satellite refueling, for peacetime and wartime space logistics. They are also already
integrating lessons learned into corresponding military doctrine and training tools. To further
ready a PLA in-space logistics force, a Chinese defense contractor has indicated, for the last six
years, that it has a mission ready satellite refueler for geosynchronous Earth orbit (GEO). With
more clarity on the PLA’s requirements for satellite logistics, the Chinese Communist Party
(CCP) has approved new commercial players to enter the field to provide, not only technology,
but also frameworks to shape international norms. These developments have largely gone
unnoticed, perhaps because of an overemphasis on a low probability satellite grappling event.
Readying the PLA in-space logistics force
In 2018, a Beijing based Strategic Support Force (SSF) unit under the Space Systems
Department (SSD) published a comprehensive article on the PLA’s requirements for a simulation
tool to train military satellite operators in space-based refueling.
1
The unit requested a computer
program to simulate the space environment and on-orbit service satellites to enable training and
evaluation, mission scheduling, and technology testing. The software had to accurately simulate
at least four different types of on-orbit servicing equipment, one type of which had already been
tested in space, according to the authors. The authors could be referring to China’s earlier LEO
or GEO successes between 2013-2018, which tested refueling and debris removal.
2
Note that
this request for a training simulator is before the launch of ShiJian-21 (SJ-21), which moved a
defunct Beidou navigation satellite to the graveyard orbit in early January 2021.
3
The simulation tool is in use, but probably still in development. The PLA’s National
University for Defense Technology (NUDT) in 2022 criticized existing development efforts for
not examining how much fuel is required to carry out particular servicing missions, after the
servicing satellite reached the customer.
4
There are many Chinese military and academic studies
evaluating the most fuel-efficient way to service multiple customer satellites. However, the
NUDT recommended adding specific fuel and time requirements for five anticipated mission
sets: 1) on-orbit refueling and repair; 2) auxiliary position maintenance; 3) adjusting inclination;
4) deorbiting a defunct satellite; and 5) rescuing a failed satellite. A satellite service tailored for
inclination adjustment, normally a highly fuel intensive maneuver, is significant.
