China’s expansion into the space domain is redefining its global strategic influence. A recent example is the Ventarrones Observatory, located in Chile’s Atacama Desert, whose construction sparks concerns about its potential dual use, London-based intelligence firm Grey Dynamics indicated in a recent report.
The observatory is part of China’s international astronomical surveillance network, created to “completely scan” the Southern and Northern Hemisphere skies every 30 minutes, responding to Beijing’s “national strategic needs.” This project reinforces China’s ambitions to be a space superpower, Grey Dynamics indicated.
On the ground, teams are setting up the observatory, located some 2,600 meters above sea level, beneath an Andean peak. From that base, Chinese scientists will monitor objects in Earth orbit, while the participation of Chilean scientists will be severely limited, U.S. magazine Newsweek reported.
Control and exclusion
The Ventarrones Astronomical Park is a joint project of Chile’s North Catholic University (UCN) and China’s National Astronomic Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, with an initial $80 million investment from China, Newsweek reported. The company in charge is a subsidiary of China State Construction Engineering Construction Corporation (CSCEC), which has been linked to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
Following eight years of negotiations, UNC described as “somewhat strange” due to China’s proposed restrictions to the facilities, the university finally said that they did not intend to use them, but that they could not be fully excluded, Newsweek reported.
“The university said it would only get two nights a month at Ventarrones,” Newsweek reported, adding that intelligence sources who spoke on condition of anonymity said it was in fact only one night that could be denied if Chinese scientists were working on important projects.
Eerily similar are the terms that China imposed on neighboring Argentina with the Espacio Lejano Station in Patagonia’s Neuquén province. The agreement for the ground station, run by the PLA’s China Satellite Launch and Tracking control General, specifies that Argentina cannot “interfere [with] or interrupt normal activities.”
“This Chinese strategy is reminiscent of Russia’s in Egypt, where the Soviets restricted local access to their areas of control, generating tensions that led to their expulsion in 1972,” Luis Fleischman, political science and sociology professor at Palm Beach State University, told Diálogo. “Similarly, China, under the guise of scientific cooperation, marginalizes local communities and disregards their interests.”
China’s scheme not only finds fertile ground in governments with ideological affinities or interests aligned with China or Russia, facilitating their influence, but also in countries which resources and strategic locations would allow it to advance its interests, Fleischman added. “In this sense Chile, due to its geopolitical relevance and strategic resources, emerges as an ideal target for this penetration.”
In 2015, China’s defense white paper declared space as a strategic military domain and created the Strategic Support Force as the PLA’s fifth arm to integrate the space sector into military operations, Central American think tank Expediente Abierto reported. “This entanglement reflects the connection between civilian and military efforts in its space activity.”
China completes this strategy with economic and technological policies aimed at achieving global dominance by 2049. Space control is a fundamental pillar in that long-term vision, Newsweek reported. Latin America, through the establishment of agreements that ensure long-term benefits, including in space projects, is key for China’s ambitions.
TOM Project
Among the projects the Ventarrones Observatory will host will be the Transient Objects Monitoring (TOM) Project, which anticipates the construction of an optical telescope system, a building with photovoltaic energy, and a data processing and scientific system, the UCN says in a report. Completion of the basic works are scheduled for May 2025 and the telescopes for 2026.
The University, however, told Newsweek that they were unclear about China’s research goals, the kind of instruments that would be installed, nor how many people would work there. The agreement, Newsweek emphasized, “did not explicitly rule out any research that could have military applications.”
“Any facility established by China abroad serves its strategic, economic, political, geopolitical, and military interests,” Fleischman said. “Thus, control of ports, telecommunications, and space, are essential to its strategy to expand its influence and power on the international stage.”
“Beijing deliberately obscures these military applications behind a veneer of civilian research and international scientific cooperation, even keeping their own research partners in the dark about the true scope of their activities,” Liza Tobin, senior director for Economy at the Washington, DC-based Special Competitive Studies Project and former China director at the U.S. National Security Council, told Newsweek.
Chinese space expansion
Beyond Chile, China has developed space infrastructure worldwide, including Kiribati, an island country in the Pacific Ocean, Namibia, Pakistan, and Venezuela, among others, sparking concerns about their potential dual use, The Washington Post reported.
In Venezuela, China built two ground stations and launched a satellite, The Washington Post reported. In Bolivia, its Amachuma Station operates 24 hours a day, monitoring satellites thousands of kilometers from China.
Similarly, China deployed at the South Pole the TianMu Time Domain Astronomical Observation Network with 100 small telescopes, and maintains two research stations, U.S. magazine Wired reported. China also employs mobile spacecraft to track satellite launches and intercontinental ballistic missiles in different parts of the world, The Washington Post reported.
According to Expediente Abierto, these stations are pillars of China’s space infrastructure, carrying out critical functions such as tracking, telemetry, and command, to communicate with satellites, download data, and control their trajectory. They also conduct space object surveillance and identification, expanding space situational awareness by monitoring and tracking objects in orbit.
Supervision and control
“Argentina and Chile must rigorously evaluate activities at these facilities, to protect their sovereignty and strategic interests. If there are substantiated suspicions, the governments should expel China and assume the legal consequences of the contracts,” Fleischman concluded. “The United States and the European Union should adopt cooperative policies with Latin America, promoting responsible investments that respect local sovereignty.”
