People's Liberation Army Aerospace Force
space arm of the People's Liberation Army
The People's Liberation Army Aerospace Force (PLAASF, Chinese: 中国人民解放军军事航天部队, romanized: Zhōngguó rénmín jiěfàngjūn jūnshì hángtiān bùduì) is the space service branch of the People's Liberation Army. It was established on 19 April 2024. It is one of two independent space forces in the world, along with the United States Space Force.
The PLAASF operates China's four spaceports: Jiuquan, Taiyuan, Wenchang, and Xichang, which launch all civilian and military payloads as well as China's crewed flights. Satellites are communicated with via ground centers in Beijing, Jiangyin, and Xi'an. The force commands China's Astronaut Corps and operates its Astronaut Center.
The PLAASF operates China's military satellites, an estimated 245 as of 2024. These include 115 reconnaissance satellites, 81 signals intelligence satellites, 45 for the BeiDou system of satellite navigation, 12 military communications satellites, and three early warning satellites for ballistic missile launches. China also operates the reusable experimental spacecraft which is a robotic spaceplane. China conducted one destructive anti-satellite weapon test in 2007, using an SC-19 missile.
The public source identifies “People's Liberation Army Aerospace Force” as space arm of the People's Liberation Army. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around People's, Liberation and Army.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “People's Liberation Army Aerospace Force”, the useful work is to connect “space arm of the People's Liberation Army” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 9, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q28416251. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2024 and 2007.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “People's Liberation Army Aerospace Force”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow People's Liberation Army Aerospace Force primary sources, People's Liberation Army Aerospace Force archive and People's research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “People's Liberation Army Aerospace Force”?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “People's Liberation Army Aerospace Force” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.