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“They are able to show that ejecta from a crater the size of the Giordano Bruno … could survive for a long enough timescale in a co-orbital zone around Earth.”

Numerical simulation suggests that Kamo`oalewa could be one of even tinier fractions that gained entry into the hard-to-reach Earth's co-orbital space.

China “continues to develop counterspace capabilities — including direct ascent, co-orbital, electronic warfare, and directed energy capabilities — that can contest or deny an adversary’s access to and operations in the space domain during a crisis or conflict,” the Pentagon’s most recent report on Chinese space weaponry states.

Gen. Dickinson said the co-orbital robotic spacecraft is part of a growing arsenal of space weaponry fielded by the Chinese military.

“A mission that could have a peaceful use in orbital debris mitigation could be employed as a co-orbital ASAT,” said Mr. Listner, with the firm Space Law and Policy Solutions.