The US Defense Intelligence Agency claimed, on Tuesday, that Russia and China want to be leading space powers and they want to establish new global space norms to challenge the United States' global leadership.

In a new report on the US challenges to security in space, the agency said, “Beijing and Moscow seek to position themselves as leading space powers, intent on creating new global space norms. Through the use of space and counter-space capabilities, they aspire to undercut US global leadership." 

The agency added that the combined space fleet of Russia and China has increased by 70% between 2019 and 2021, while in the 2015-2018 period, the two countries augmented their respective fleets by more than 200%.

“Between 2019 and 2021 the combined operational space fleets of China and Russia have grown by approximately 70 percent. This recent and continuing expansion follows a period of growth (2015–2018) where China and Russia had increased their combined satellite fleets by more than 200 percent,” DIA said.

On his account, Senior Defense Analyst for space and counter space of the US Defense Intelligence Agency, Keith Ryder said, on Tuesday, that Russia and China intend to explore and exploit the natural resources of the moon and Mars over the next 30 years.

"Both nations [China, Russia] seek to broaden their space exploration initiatives together and individually, with plans to explore the moon and Mars during the next 30 years, and if successful, these efforts will likely lead to attempts by Beijing and Moscow to exploit the moon's natural resources," Ryder said during a press briefing.

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