WASHINGTON: The United States has weapons deployed in space, the US Space Force has announced, confirming the presence of such capabilities in orbit for the first time.
The announcement drew swift reactions from both China and Russia, with Beijing warning against turning outer space into a “battlefield” and Moscow saying it must be “free from any weapon”.
China’s foreign ministry warned against the “weaponisation of outer space, turning it into a battlefield, as well as an arms race there”.
“We urge the US side to stop expanding its military capabilities and preparing for war in outer space,” ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told a news briefing.
China warns against turning space into battlefield; Russia seeks ‘space demilitarisation’
A Kremlin spokesperson said: “We are counting on broad international consolidation to continue working toward the complete demilitarisation of space.”
The announcement by the US Space Force said: “The US has on-orbit space control weapons capable of defending the Joint Force against hostile adversary action. Space control encapsulates the mission areas required to contest and control the space domain, employing kinetic and non-kinetic means to affect adversary capabilities. These capabilities can be employed for offensive and defensive purposes.”
The spokesperson also mentioned Russia and China, saying that the two main geopolitical rivals of the US pose potential threats to US interests in space.
China “develops and operates space and counterspace capabilities as part of a military modernisation strategy”, while Russia “views space as a warfighting domain and believes space supremacy will be a decisive factor in future conflicts”.
According to an analyst, 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.
The announcement marked a new stage in the major powers’ rush for military space capabilities, driven by rapid technological advancements but lacking a comprehensive legal framework.
The US statement did not provide concrete details about what weapons are deployed in space and how many. Non-kinetic means could include lasers to blind satellites, or even electromagnetic or cyber jamming of their data links.
The militarisation of space is as old as the space race itself; as soon as the Sputnik was launched into orbit as the first probe in space in 1957, Washington and Moscow began exploring ways to both arm and destroy satellites. India said in 2019 it had destroyed a low-orbiting satellite, following in the footsteps of Russia, China and the US.
The biggest worry was once about nuclear weapons in space, but the superpowers and other countries signed the Outer Space Treaty in 1967, banning weapons of mass destruction in orbit.
Published in Dawn, September 16th, 2026
