China leads in GPS-style, reconnaissance and anti-satellite abilities, US report says

China has leapfrogged the United States in a few mighty important sectors of space technologies: GPS-style navigation, spy-in-the-sky reconnaissance and even the ability to knock satellites out of orbit, according to a report from a US think tank.

The report from the Washington-based Information Technology and Innovation Foundation said China had rapidly built a powerful commercial space sector under strong state backing and was narrowing the innovation gap with the US.

“If the United States...