Pulling Latin America into China's Orbit: Dual-Use Space Infrastructure, Military-Civil Fusion, and Strategic Competition in the Western Hemisphere

The February 2026 report by the U.S. House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), titled Pulling Latin America into China’s Orbit, represents the most comprehensive open-source assessment to date of the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) expanding space infrastructure across the Western Hemisphere. The report identifies at least eleven PRC-linked facilities — including satellite ground stations, radio-astronomy observatories, and satellite laser-ranging sites — located in Argentina, Venezuela, Bolivia, Chile, and Brazil. These sites are described as dual-use, possessing both civilian and potential military applications that could enhance the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) global situational awareness and intelligence-collection capabilities. The findings are analyzed through three key strategic frameworks: China’s Military-Civil Fusion (MCF) doctrine, which integrates civilian and defense capabilities across technological and industrial sectors; The Space Silk Road strategy, a component of the Belt and Road Initiative that extends China’s influence through space cooperation agreements and infrastructure projects; Debt-trap diplomacy, through which Beijing leverages financial and technological dependence to expand its geopolitical reach. Case studies of Neuquén (Argentina), Salvador-Bahia (Brazil), and the Paraíba radio-astronomy laboratory (Brazil) illustrate the operational and strategic significance of these installations. Finally, the report explores policy implications for the United States, Latin American host nations, and multilateral space governance, emphasizing the need for transparency, national-security safeguards, and renewed hemispheric cooperation to address the dual-use challenges of China’s growing space presence.