SPACEPOWER 2025 \u2014 China and Russia are experimenting with stealth technologies aimed at making it harder for radar and telescopes to find their satellites, according to a senior Space Force official. <\/p>\n
\u201cIn years past, we\u2019ve talked about this cat and mouse game that was happening at GEO [geosynchronous Earth orbit] \u2014 Chinese, Russian, US satellite, sort of stalking each other. This past year has really been more of a hide and seek game that we\u2019ve seen at LEO [low Earth orbit],\u201d Chief Master Sergeant Ron Lerch, senior enlisted advisor to the deputy chief of space operations for intelligence, said today. <\/p>\n
For example, he said, the three LEO-stationed Shiyan-24 satellites (Shiyan A, B and C) involved in synchronized maneuvers that Space Force vice Gen. Michael Guetlein back in March dubbed as \u201cdogfighting in space<\/a>\u201d each had a different radar cross section \u2014 the second being smaller than the first and third smaller still.<\/p>\n That suggests, Lerch told the Space Force Association\u2019s Spacepower 2025 conference, \u201cthat the Chinese are moving forward with what we\u2019ve seen as a decades-long plan and research to potentially use some stealth applications in space.\u201d<\/p>\n Since 2012 the Chinese military also has been experimenting with shaping microsatellites to make it harder to spot them, Lerch added in response to a question from Breaking Defense on the sidelines of the conference. The PLA published a research paper in 2022<\/a> showing the results: a tiny metallic satellite, known as the \u201cOlive-B\u201d test article, that looks like \u201ca sphere\u201d that has been \u201csitting in an anechoic chamber\u201d undergoing lab tests, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cNot only are they difficult to visually acquire, that shape, they believe, would be incredibly beneficial in terms of masses of the radar cross section,\u201d Lerch told the conference.<\/p>\n