US acknowledges for first time that it has deployed weapons in space

The United States has officially acknowledged for the first time that it has deployed weapons in space, breaking a long-standing convention that the realm of outer space should be used only for peaceful purposes. This revelation came during a speech by Air Force Secretary Troy Meink at the Air and Space Cyber Conference in Maryland on Monday.

Meink stated that the U.S. has developed "on-orbit space control weapons capable of defending the Joint Force against hostile adversary action," though he did not provide further details about the nature of these weapons, their functionality, or their intended targets, be they other objects in space or on Earth.

Previously, the U.S. had expressed concerns two years ago regarding Russia's development of a new space-based anti-satellite weapon. Although the White House at that time deemed the threat not imminent, the existence of such a weapon reflected ongoing apprehensions about potential threats from Russia and China. These countries pose a significant risk to U.S. infrastructure, which heavily relies on satellite communications. The U.S. has also shown its capability to shoot down satellites from Earth in the past.