Introduction Almost five years after the establishment of the PLA Strategic Support Force (PLASSF) in December 2015 (China Brief, December 21, 2016; China Brief, May 29, 2019), many questions remain regarding the scope and strength of the force. However, publicly-available recruitment information and admission data... MORE

After nine years of the United States relying entirely on Russian Soyuz rockets to deliver astronauts into orbit, this dependency finally ended on May 30, 2020, with the successful launch of the private US company SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft, bound for the International Space Station... MORE

Introduction The early months of 2020 have seen a number of significant launches for the People’s Republic of China (PRC)’s Long March series of rockets (长征系列运载火箭, Chang Zheng xilie yunzai huojian). The venerable—but steadily evolving—Long March series dates its active history back to China’s first... MORE

Among the Russian Federation’s most important industrial enterprises with Soviet antecedents, its space program evokes both national pride and the aura of profitability. A series of recent setbacks however, among them COVID-19 infections of key personnel and growing international competition, threaten the future of Roscosmos,... MORE

Russia’s constellation of GLONASS navigation satellites are part of a dual-use system—available to both civilian users and the military. Moscow began deploying it during the 1980s–1990s, but its initial capabilities were almost fully lost by the year 2000, due to technical and economic shortcomings. However,... MORE

Introduction The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has been undergoing a far-reaching transformation with strategic implications for the military balance in the region and beyond. Starting in 2015, the PLA has been undertaking historic reforms that have involved extensive restructuring of the force. [1] The... MORE

China’s Lunar Probe Explores New Territory on the Moon’s Surface On January 3rd, PRC officials announced a successful landing by the Chang’E-4 probe (嫦娥四号探测器) in the Van Karman Crater near the lunar south pole. [1] The mission was noteworthy for being the first time that... MORE

Russian telecommunication experts paid close attention to the February 22 announcement of the launch into orbit of two experimental micro-satellites by the private space exploration company SpaceX (Vedomosti, February 22). The main goal of the launch of SpaceX’s Falcon-9 rocket was advertised as the deployment... MORE

Roscosmos, the Russian government corporation responsible for Moscow’s space program, is consuming ever larger amounts of budgetary funds but is failing to provide anything in return. That situation has led to frequent predictions the Russian space program is on the brink of collapse. Some even... MORE

China’s paramount leader, Xi Jinping, has emerged from the recent 19th Party Congress stronger than at least his past two predecessors. Xi solidified his grip on power by enshrining “Xi Jinping Thought” into the Party constitution and unveiling a new Politburo Standing Committee that does... MORE