US has weapons deployed in orbit, Space Force says

The United States has confirmed that it has weapons deployed in space, the US Space Force announced on Monday. This is the first time the country has officially stated the presence of such capabilities orbiting the Earth. According to a spokesperson for the US Space Force, these "on-orbit space control weapons" are designed to defend the joint military force against hostile actions from adversaries.

They can employ both kinetic and non-kinetic means to affect adversary capabilities in the space domain, which can be used for both offensive and defensive purposes.

China and Russia, the United States' primary geopolitical rivals, are seen as potential threats to US interests in space, according to the Pentagon. China is developing and operating space and counterspace capabilities as part of its military modernization strategy, while Russia views space as a warfighting domain and believes that space supremacy will be a decisive factor in future conflicts, the US Space Force said.

The militarization of space is not a new phenomenon; it began as early as the space race in the 1950s when both the United States and the Soviet Union started exploring ways to arm and destroy satellites. Although the initial concern was about nuclear weapons in space, the Outer Space Treaty of 1967 banned weapons of mass destruction in orbit.

Since then, nations like Russia, the US, China, and India have been exploring ways to fight in space outside the treaty, using satellites for military communications, surveillance, and navigation.

Responding to the US announcement, China urged Washington to stop preparing for war in space and warned against weaponizing outer space. China's foreign ministry spokesperson, Guo Jiakun, called for an end to the "weaponization of outer space and turning it into a battlefield, as well as an arms race there." The US Space Force specifically highlighted China as a threat, while also mentioning Russia as another geopolitical rival that sees space supremacy as a decisive factor in future conflicts.