US Confirms for the First Time It Has Stationed Weapons in Orbit

Key facts

• The United States has confirmed for the first time that it has deployed weapons in space.
• Air Force Secretary Troy Meink announced at the Air and Space Cyber Conference in Maryland that the U.S. has fielded on-orbit space control weapons capable of defending the Joint Force against hostile adversary action, without detailing what the weapons are or how they work.
• In 2024, the U.S. said Russia was developing a new anti-satellite weapon that could be launched from space, though the White House said the danger was not imminent.
• Meink said the Air Force is adding more autonomous systems and predicted the service would look radically different by 2032, with one-way attack drones potentially replacing artillery as the primary killer.
• The Space Force was created by Trump in 2019.