The US Air Force Secretary, Troy Meink, publicly confirmed for the first time that the United States has operational weapons in orbit. The declaration was made during the Air, Space & Cyber conference in National Harbor, Maryland, when Meink stated that the Space Force has "on-orbit space control weapons" capable of defending US forces against hostile actions from adversaries. The confirmation was classified by the Associated Press as the first official admission from Washington regarding the placement of weapons in space.
Meink refused to reveal how many weapons are in orbit, when they were placed or what their specific capabilities are, stating that the wording used had been carefully considered. The expression "space control weapons" does not allow for determining the exact type of armament, although experts cited by the Financial Times point to the possibility of non-kinetic systems, such as equipment capable of interfering with other satellites, a solution that would avoid creating large amounts of space debris.
The justification presented by Washington is deterrence. Meink stated that the US needs to maintain its dominance capability in space as it becomes increasingly important for military operations and for economic and civilian activity. The revelation comes in a context of growing US concern regarding the space capabilities of China and Russia, which have been developing technologies aimed at threatening space systems for decades.
The decision to make public the existence of these weapons appears to have a political and strategic component, presenting the capability as a way to ensure that the US can respond if its systems are threatened. The revelation occurs while the US administration is developing the Golden Dome project, a missile defense system with space components. The legal framework is marked by the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, which prohibits the placement of nuclear and mass destruction weapons in orbit, but not conventional weapons.
