China satellite launch sparks fears over potential space weapons

China's recent satellite launch is sparking fears from some experts who say it can be used as a weapon capable of grabbing hold of and crushing American satellites. The satellite named Shijian-21, after the Chinese word "practice," was propelled into space Saturday atop of Long March 3B rocket launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, a military facility in the mountains of the mountains in Sichuan province of southwestern China, Space Flight Now reported. Its exact mission is classified, though the state-run China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp., said the satellite is "tasked with demonstrating technologies to alleviate and neutralize space debris," The Washington Times reported. During a Senate committee hearing in April, U.S. Air Force Gen. James Dickinson, commander of the U.S. Space Command, said spacecraft like Shijian-21 are being utilized as part of the Chinese effort to seek "space superiority through space and space-attack systems." An earlier model, the Shijian-17 satellite, which was launched in 2016, also was equipped with a robotic arm that could be used to grapple other spacecraft, Dickinson testified.