By Tory Bruno - Monday, August 4, 2025
OPINION:

The satellites go dark. That’s how it would begin.

Not with missiles, not with amphibious landings on Taiwan’s shores, but with a blackout in space. U.S. satellites, the eyes and ears of the modern battlefield, silenced or shattered. Communications scrambled. Surveillance gaps exposed. Missile warning systems blinking red or not at all.

Before the first American warship could respond, China would already be moving in.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth put it simply in a recent speech: “China uses its vast and sophisticated cyber capabilities to steal technology and attack critical infrastructure in your countries and in the United States as well. These actions not only compromise our countries but endanger the lives of our citizens.”

This scenario should chill every policymaker in Washington. It’s not a theory; it’s a plan, likely the plan, and we are dangerously close to being caught flat-footed.

For years, China has been preparing for a conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The country has watched, learned and zeroed in on our most critical vulnerability: our near total dependence on space to fight, see and communicate. Our constellation of military satellites enables GPS-guided weapons and coordinated operations across thousands of miles.

China has been quietly building the means to take that all away.

It has launched into orbit “satellite inspectors,” which happen to maneuver close to ours. It has also developed anti-satellite missiles and ground-based lasers. These capabilities aren’t theoretical. They’re operational.

We are not out of time, but the clock is ticking.

Space is not a sanctuary. It is a contested domain. If we don’t defend it with the urgency and seriousness this moment demands, we may find ourselves trying to fight the next war in the dark.

We can still change the ending of this story, but only if we act now and invest with purpose.