A new US Government report warns China and Russia are both developing space-based weapons.

“China and Russia, in particular, are developing a variety of means to exploit perceived US reliance on space-based systems and challenge the US position in space,” the US Defence Intelligence Agency report said.

The report, titled “Challenges to Security in Space”, examines Russian, Chinese, Iranian and North Korean space capabilities.

US satellites are used for everything from navigation to weapons targeting and intelligence gathering, including keeping tabs on North Korean, Russian and Chinese military activity.

They have watched the Chinese government step up its space program, including becoming the first nation to land a probe on the far side of the moon in January.

The Trump administration says it needs a ‘Space Force’ to counter the growth of China's space capabilities.

The report details a variety of Russian and Chinese anti-satellite weapons, electronic warfare systems, directed-energy weapons and “kinetic” anti-satellite missiles.

It says “laser weapons to disrupt, degrade, or damage satellites and their sensors” are being developed by several nations.

“China likely will field a ground-based laser weapon that can counter low-orbit space-based sensors by 2020, and by the mid-to-late 2020s, it may field higher power systems that extend the threat to the structures of non-optical satellites,” the report says.

It says China “possibly already has a limited capability to employ laser systems against satellite sensors”.

Russia reportedly delivered a laser weapon to its Aerospace Forces prior to July 2018, which is likely intended for an anti-satellite mission.

“Russia is also developing an airborne [anti-satellite] laser weapon system to use against space-based missile defence sensors,” the report says.

The report warns that China can hit satellites in low-Earth orbit while Russia is in the process of developing missiles that can do the same.

The Chinese military “has an operational ground-based [anti-satellite] missile intended to target [low-Earth orbit] satellites… [and] China has also formed military units that have begun training with [anti-satellite] missiles.”

The report is available in PDF form, here.