Kenya on US radar yet again over close ties with China in space expansion in Africa

The US has once again put Kenya on its radar over its close space partnership with China in yet another engagement that is likely to further strain Nairobi-Washington ties.

 Through a Congress report, the US raises issue with Kenya’s close partnership with China in Beijing’s bid to expand its space presence across Africa.

The 2025 Report to Congress of the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission says Kenya is now emerging as one of the countries falling within Beijing’s growing sphere of aerospace partnerships.

Although the report does not analyse Kenya directly, it lists it as among the African countries with space cooperation deals with China, with ground station and partnership with non-government entity. 

The commission warns that Kenya’s space-tech collaboration with China poses strategic risks for the US, placing Kenya at the centre of a new great power rivalry.

 The comes hot on the heels of Senator Jim Risch’s proposed bill to review Kenya's non-North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) status, barely months after it became the first sub-Saharan African country to get the designation. 

Senator Risch raised issue with Kenya’s close ties with China, especially President William Ruto’s remark at Peking University that Kenya and China as co-architects a new global order. 

In the bill, Senator Risch called for “a detailed description of the military and security relationship” of Kenya with China, Russia and Iran, “including any engagements, agreements, or joint activities since June 24, 2024". 

The new Congress report indicates “ground station presence” from China, allowing it to use and or build local ground infrastructure, “often to support telemetry, tracking, and command of space assets”.

The DRC, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Egypt, Rwanda, Sudan and Tanzania are also states in the region where China is deepening cooperation in satellite technology, lunar research partnerships, and space-science agreements as part of its global aerospace strategy.

 This expansion, the report warns, is taking place within the framework of China’s Military-Civil Fusion policy, which merges civilian space initiatives with strategic military objectives.

 As a result, any new Chinese space-linked partnership in Africa — including in Kenya — carries potential dual-use implications.

“China’s international expansion of its space services acts as a force multiplier for its geopolitical ambitions. Through a heavily state-led model, Beijing closely coordinates military, civil, and commercial activities—enabling civilian space services to directly support the PLA’s [people’s Liberation Army] goals while being marketed globally as purely commercial services,” the report says.

 It adds that by embedding dual-use technologies in partner nations’ infrastructure, China boosts its global space market share, gains access to sensitive data, and draws developing countries deeper into its geopolitical and economic orbit.

 The report further notes that in testimony before the Commission, chief director of Space Security and Stability at Secure World Foundation Victoria Samson noted that China often builds ground infrastructure and hosts satellites for other countries in regions that are rich in natural resources or have strategic value. 

“This approach allows China to gain access to those resources and collect sensitive data or communications that can be used to exert diplomatic leverage and secure support for its broader geopolitical objectives,” it adds.

The report flags Africa as one of the emerging battlegrounds where Beijing is seeking political influence, technological footholds, and strategic satellite capabilities.

Major powers competition analyst Rashid Abdi opines that Africa is crucial to China for strategic minerals, and increasingly the race to dominate space.

While African states have historically relied on Western or Russian partners for space cooperation, China has rapidly changed this dynamic by offering low-cost satellite launches, ground-station technology, remote-sensing capabilities, deep-space exploration participation, and training for African scientists.

 The report also documents the US-China competition to lead the emerging space economy—the commercial market to sell goods and services related to space.

While the US is still the global leader, the study found that China has distinct capabilities that could translate to significant geostrategic and military advantage.

Notably, China has in just a decade gone from having an almost non- existent private commercial space sector to a vibrant ecosystem of space startups.

“Building on its established state-led aerospace and defense sector and network of research institutions, China has quickly fostered a dynamic startup ecosystem focused on rivaling US firms in commercial launch and satellite networks.

“Though the US leads in two capabilities vital to the future space economy—reusable launch rockets and LEO satellite constellations—China is deploying its industrial policy playbook and leveraging strengths in manufacturing and rocketry in an attempt to rapidly catch up.

The stakes are high, as the competition extends beyond technological development to finite orbital positions for satellites, international influence in establishing ground stations, and control over future markets and space-based applications—many of them with significant national security implications, it adds.

Kenya’s strategic location on the Western Indian Ocean, its historical role in satellite launches through the Malindi Space Centre, and its growing interest in space-economy development make it a natural target for both Beijing and Washington.

In October 2022, Kenya became the only African country of 17 others that were listed to undertake research for China’s special space mission under the Tiangong Space Station.

In July 2019, Kenya was reported to have sought to cooperate with the Chinese space agency in order to boost its satellite technology.

Kenya Space Agency engineer Charles Maina Mwangi told Xinhua in Nairobi that Kenya was keen to partner with China “which has a robust and vibrant space industry”.