America deployed weapons in space for the first time

America has confirmed to deploy 'space weapons' in Earth's orbit. This is the first time that America has accepted such offensive capabilities.

US Air Force Secretary Troy Meinke said that these weapons are necessary to keep an eye on the enemy.

Speaking at the Air, Space and Cyber ​​conference on Monday, Meinke said the US is prepared for "evolving threats".

But Meink did not elaborate on the weapon's capabilities or when it was put into orbit.

Senior US military officials have previously said that they are planning to increase military capabilities in space.

These officials have cited Russian and Chinese programs developing ways to attack and disrupt American satellites in a future conflict.

What answer has China given?

China responded on Tuesday by warning against an "arms race" in space.

"We urge the US side to stop expanding its military capabilities and preparing for war in space," AFP quoted a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman as saying.

American officials have not given any information about the working method of this weapon.

A US Space Force spokesperson said, "Space control includes the mission areas required to combat and gain control over space by disrupting, debilitating, and destroying adversary capabilities."

"These capabilities can be used for both offensive and defensive purposes as directed by combatant commands."

What are experts saying

An expert on the military uses of space said there is "very little" publicly available information about this technology. He told the BBC that it could carry "a whole range of different weapons systems".

Dr Bledyn Bowen of the Royal United Services Institute told Radio 4's 'Today' program that the US might be talking about "some kind of electronic warfare or radio jamming platform".

Bowen said that this would be the kind of weapon that already exists on Earth and can disrupt radio communications.

Another option could be "some kind of kinetic kill vehicle". That is, a vehicle that releases some kind of missile and hits a satellite and destroys it.

However, Bowen said this was unlikely, because such a weapon could produce large amounts of debris.

The Trump administration has said that space-based capabilities and interceptor missiles are a key part of its "Golden Dome" defense system to protect the United States from missiles and other aerial threats.

Last year, President Donald Trump had issued an executive order, in which the role of the US Space Force was not limited to just protecting the assets in space, but it was also presented as an attacking force.

The American Space Force was started in 2019. Its purpose is to protect US assets in space, which include hundreds of satellites used for communications and surveillance.

History of space warfare

A 1967 treaty banned the deployment of weapons of mass destruction in Earth's orbit. Since then, major powers like America, Russia and China are working on developing other capabilities outside the scope of the treaty.

These also include targeting satellites of rival countries. These satellites are important for military communication, surveillance and navigation.

In early February, it was revealed that two Russian satellites had possibly intercepted the communications of at least a dozen European satellites since Russia's attack on Ukraine in 2022.

By doing this, Russian intelligence agencies would have been able to read the sensitive data being sent from these satellites or in theory they would have been able to take control of these satellites.

In 2024, the US said that Russia had launched a satellite which it believed could be capable of attacking other such satellites.

Russia did not comment publicly on this issue.

The US Space Force states that China "develops and operates space and counterspace capabilities as part of its military modernization strategy", while Russia "views space as a battlefield and believes that space dominance will be a decisive factor in future conflicts."