OREANDA-NEWS. At a meeting of the National Space Council on Wednesday, US National Intelligence Director John Ratcliffe said that the security and economy of the United States is now highly dependent on the exploitation of space systems, and the country is facing challenges in this area from Russia and China.

Ratcliffe said that the actions of US opponents are creating increasingly serious problems for Americans. He added that "vital American interests are increasingly under threat as China and Russia develop and deploy weapons systems that could threaten the United States and its allies in space."

As the American politician said, "China poses the greatest threat to US national security in terms of operations in space, since China is developing means to destroy US satellites." He added that China is also building a ground-based system targeting US satellites in low orbits. According to him, Russia has a similar system. In addition, Russia has a ground-based laser designed to blind or damage US optical systems in space.

In addition, Ratcliffe blamed Moscow for "provocative actions", claiming that "a Russian satellite was making dangerous maneuvers near an American government satellite."