Space Force says weapons disclosure aims to normalize military's use of orbit

China targets space power parity with US by 2040, US officials say

Space Force officials said this week’s disclosure that the U.S. military has deployed weapons in orbit is part of a broader effort to normalize the military’s use of space and deter adversaries who might seek to launch weapons of their own. The remarks came as China works to achieve space power parity with the U.S. by 2040 and as the Pentagon and several U.S. companies race to develop more agile spacecraft for a more intensely contested orbital environment. Air Force Secretary Troy Meink described the U.S. as having “on-orbit space control weapons” on Monday at the Air and Space Forces Association’s Air, Space & Cyber conference in Maryland; Gen. Douglas Schiess, the Space Force’s top officer, made similar remarks the next day at the same event.

For years, officials had declined to discuss space-based weapons, and the disclosure marks the first public acknowledgment of what U.S. officials described as a closely held government secret. The decision to discuss the weapons openly was not tied to any specific global event or current operation, U.S. officials said. Some people familiar with the matter had been anticipating a more public discussion about the weapons the U.S. has fielded into orbit.

“It’s time to talk about that — we have the capabilities to make sure that we can do what the joint force needs us to do,” Schiess said during a Tuesday briefing at the conference. He said the military has orbital weapons that can defend against “space-enabled attacks” but declined to provide specifics about the assets.

Schiess pointed to Chinese spacecraft with robotic arms that could potentially grab a satellite and remove it from its orbit, and to Russia’s ability to interfere with U.S. satellites.

China has made it a priority to achieve space power parity with the U.S. by 2040, U.S. officials said. Beijing is on track to launch thousands of its own satellites, including weapons, in the coming years, the officials added. The U.S. has warned about Russia and China testing and launching space weapons for years.

The military and several U.S. companies are working on spacecraft that can shift more rapidly in orbit, anticipating a space environment that is more intensely contested and that includes spacecraft from different countries making close approaches to each other. Developing a satellite capable of agile movements can be challenging and requires propulsion systems and fuel. Some of the fighting in space popularized in movies isn’t possible in orbit, including rapid-pace dogfighting between different spacecraft.

The Trump administration has sought major increases in funding for national-security space projects, and Trump himself has frequently touted U.S. space technologies. The U.S. has for decades relied on satellites to execute military operations — space capabilities allow the Pentagon to detect missile launches, guide precision munitions, collect battlefield imagery and communicate securely. The dependence the Pentagon has on space has raised fears of potential attacks in orbit.

China responded to the Pentagon’s remarks by urging the U.S. to halt what it described as an expanding military buildup in outer space. A spokesman for China’s Foreign Ministry said China opposes an arms race in space and any attempt to weaponize it. “We urge the U.S. to stop expanding military build-up in outer space, and uphold global strategic stability with concrete actions,” he said.

Analysts offered differing assessments of the disclosure. “It’s not surprising that we’re acknowledging on-orbit U.S. space weapons to defend our space assets,” said Kari Bingen, who focuses on aerospace security at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, citing assessments that China and Russia are developing their own space weapons. The confirmation also signals that the U.S. will “protect our joint forces on the ground from satellites that would be used to target them,” she said.

Victoria Samson, who directs space security and stability work at the nonprofit Secure World Foundation, said the disclosure carries risks. “The concern is that this can be either very escalatory, should China and Russia choose to make similar statements, or this normalizes putting weapons in space,” she said.

Space-based weaponry takes several forms. Among them: robotic arms attached to satellites could capture spacecraft or push them out of their orbits. Satellites could be armed with high-powered lasers or microwaves that target the electronic systems on adversary systems. Jammers would seek to stop the signals satellites transmit.