US Confirms Weapons Deployed In Orbit China Warns Against Space 'Battlefield'

2026-09-15 02:41:29

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) The United States has weapons deployed in space, the US Space Force have said, confirming the presence of such capabilities in orbit for the first time.

"The US has on-orbit space control weapons capable of defending the Joint Force against hostile adversary action," a US Space Force spokesperson said in a statement that did not provide specifics on the weapons.

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"Space control encapsulates the mission areas required to contest and control the space domain - employing kinetic and non-kinetic means to affect adversary capabilities," the statement said, adding that "these capabilities can be employed for offensive and defensive purposes."

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"The acknowledgment of these space-control capabilities is fundamental to ensuring that we prevent deterrence from failing, and that we are postured and ready should deterrence fail to employ them effectively," Richard Palmer, the director of the Capability and Resource Integration Directorate at U.S. Space Command, said on Tuesday.

Speaking at a space defence conference hosted by consulting firm Novaspace in Paris, Palmer added that there are“some actors across the globe who are very much interested in undermining the collective interests of the countries and allies gathered here in this audience and across Europe and the rest of the world.” He declined to discuss the nature or capability of those weapons.

"The bottom line is that our joint force and our allied forces require space. Our economies require space,” added Palmer.“We are ready in the U.S. to preserve that."

Both Russia and China - the two main geopolitical rivals of the United States - pose potential threats to US interests in space. China "develops and operates space and counterspace capabilities as part of a military modernization strategy," while Russia "views space as a warfighting domain and believes space supremacy will be a decisive factor in future conflicts," according to the US Space Force.

China Tuesday warned against turning outer space into a "battlefield" and Russia said it must be "free from any weapon" after the United States confirmed for the first time that it has arms deployed in orbit above the Earth.

Analysts said that the revelation by Washington confirmed an open secret but the timing of the announcement risked exacerbating tensions with Beijing and the risk of a weapons race in space.

Preparing for war in space

Satellites have become indispensable to modern warfare, as conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East have demonstrated. For decades they have provided communications, navigation and intelligence services to armed forces on Earth, and once placed in orbit typically remained on fixed paths. Increasingly, however, militaries view them as active weapons platforms capable of launching attacks by disrupting a satellite's operations through jamming or laser dazzling, or even capturing enemy spacecraft.

The head of US Space Command has warned that adversaries are developing capabilities to deny the United States access to key systems and reduce military effectiveness, and that adversaries would likely seek to target U.S. space assets early in a conflict. He has argued that the U.S. must adopt a more active warfighting posture, including calling for orbital interceptors and other weapons.

The US recently conducted a major orbital exercise designed to demonstrate dynamic space operations, involving satellites in multiple orbits simultaneously plus participation from international and commercial partners. Called Apollo Maneuvers, it marked the largest such exercise conducted by US Space Command both in the number of spacecraft involved and the type of maneuvers performed, a U.S. Space Command spokesperson said.

US Confirms Weapons Deployed In Orbit China Warns Against Space 'Battlefield'

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