The US military has publicly confirmed for the first time that it has deployed weapons in space orbit
The U.S. Space Force has publicly confirmed for the first time that the United States has deployed weapons in space orbit and defended it on the grounds of the threat posed by China and Russia. China and Russia condemned and opposed this.
Quick Look
- For the first time, the U.S.
- Space Force has publicly confirmed that it has deployed weapons in space orbit to protect joint combat forces and provide offensive and defensive capabilities.
- The Space Force defended the deployment on the grounds of threats from China and Russia, and the Chinese Foreign Ministry and the Russian Kremlin expressed opposition to it and called for an end to the arms race in outer space.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
For the first time, the U.S. Space Force has publicly confirmed that it possesses and deploys space control weapons in orbit. China and Russia condemned this and called for the demilitarization of space.
(Deutsche Welle Chinese website) The U.S. Space Force stated that the United States has deployed weapons in space orbit. This is the first time that the United States has publicly confirmed that it has such combat capabilities.
A spokesman for the U.S. Space Force said in a press release: "The United States has on-orbit space control weapons capable of protecting joint combat forces from hostile actions." The statement did not disclose specific details of the relevant weapons.
“Space control encompasses the various mission areas required to contest and control the space domain—including the ability to use kinetic and non-kinetic means to defeat adversaries,” the statement said, adding, “These capabilities can be used offensively or defensively.”
Speaking at the Air Force, Space and Cyber Conference on Monday, U.S. Air Force Secretary Troy Meink also confirmed that the United States has weapons deployed in space.
As the U.S. military branch responsible for space operations, the Space Force has defended its deployment of weapons on the grounds that Russia and China, two major geopolitical rivals, pose a threat to U.S. interests in space.
The statement read that China "will develop and employ space and counter-space capabilities as part of its military modernization strategy," while Russia "views space as a combat boundary and believes that space supremacy will be the decisive factor in future conflicts."
What is the response of China and Russia to this?
In response to the U.S. stance, China urged Washington to “stop preparing for war in space.”
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said: "We urge the United States to stop arms expansion and war preparations in outer space" and warned against "the weaponization, battlefieldization and arms race of outer space."
Russia on Tuesday similarly called for space to remain weapon-free.
"We believe that space must remain completely weapons-free," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in Moscow. "We look forward to a broad coalition of the international community that will continue to work towards the complete demilitarization of space," he added.
final frontier
The militarization of space is a topic as old as the space race itself.
In 1967, the world's major superpowers and other countries jointly signed the Outer Space Treaty, aiming to address the core concern at the time - the deployment of nuclear weapons in space.
Since then, Russia, the United States, India and China have been exploring space warfare methods outside the framework of the treaty, including targeting each other's key satellites used for military communications, navigation and reconnaissance.
Open Questions
- What are the specific technical details of the relevant on-orbit weapons?
- In what specific orbits has the US military deployed these weapons?
