Saltzman said attention has often focused on Russia and its development of a kind of space nuclear weapon as the "closest alligator to the boat" when it comes to European security, but the bigger challenge is posed by China.
"The volume of threats, the diversity of threats that [China] is presenting is a particular challenge," he said. "But Russia is a very capable space-faring nation, and they've invested heavily in counter space as well."
Both Beijing and Moscow are working together on a moon station, and have recruited countries such as Egypt, South Africa, Thailand, and Pakistan into an initiative that is a direct rival to the U.S. Artemis lunar program.
The Space Force was set up in 2019 to treat space as a military theater alongside the traditional branches of air, sea, land, and cyber. However, building a new branch of the military isn't easy, Saltzman said. "We underestimated what it was going to take to build a service-level organization," he said.