The United States has confirmed for the first time that it has deployed weapons in space, revealing a capability previously left unacknowledged as concerns grow over military threats beyond Earth.
The disclosure came from Air Force Secretary Troy Meink during a conference in Maryland.
Speaking Monday at the Air and Space Cyber Conference, Meink said the United States has fielded “on-orbit space control weapons capable of defending the Joint Force against hostile adversary action.”
His statement marked the first confirmation that American weapons are operating in space.
Meink did not identify the weapons, explain how they function, or say whether they are intended to target objects in space or on Earth.
The lack of detail left the nature and scope of the deployed systems unclear.
The United States had warned two years earlier that Russia was developing a new weapon based in space that could target satellites.
At the time, the White House said the danger posed by that development was not imminent.
Reports about the Russian weapon reflected longstanding concerns involving threats from Russia and China.
Those concerns carry particular weight because much of the infrastructure used by the United States depends on communications provided through satellites.
The United States has previously demonstrated that it can shoot down satellites using weapons launched from Earth.
Meink’s announcement, however, confirmed that American weapons have now been placed in space itself.
Meink also discussed broader changes coming to the Air Force, including the addition of more autonomous systems.
He predicted that the service would look “radically different” by 2032 as those capabilities become more prominent.
One example involved one way attack drones, which Meink said could replace artillery as the primary weapon used to kill targets.
He also said the Air Force was increasing its readiness against threats that already exist.
The announcement arrives as the Trump administration places greater emphasis on space capabilities.
President Donald Trump created the Space Force as a separate military branch in 2019 during his first term.
During his second term, Trump announced the “Golden Dome” missile defense system, which includes plans to place additional American weapons in space.
The proposed system is intended to intercept missiles, including missiles launched from space.
Trump said last year that he expected Golden Dome to become fully operational before his term ends in January 2029.
He also said the system would have the capability to intercept missiles “even if they are launched from space.”
Trump directed the Pentagon to pursue interceptors based in space through an executive order issued during the first week of his presidency.
The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the space components alone could cost as much as $542 billion over the next 20 years.
WATCH:
The Biden administration announced in 2024 that Russia was developing a nuclear weapon based in space.
According to that announcement, the weapon could remain in space for extended periods before releasing a burst capable of destroying nearby satellites.
That disclosure sparked another debate at the United Nations over the deployment of weapons in space.
In April 2024, Russia vetoed a resolution from the United States and Japan that called on countries not to develop or deploy nuclear arms or other weapons of mass destruction in space.
Such weapons are banned under a 1967 international treaty that included both the United States and Russia.
The treaty also declared outer space to be a global commons reserved for peaceful purposes.
Russia called the proposed resolution hypocritical and accused its sponsors of applying a double standard.
Moscow offered a competing resolution that sought to ban all weapons in space “for all time,” but that proposal ultimately failed.
Russia argued that the United States and its allies opposed a comprehensive prohibition because they intended to deploy weapons in space.
Meink’s confirmation now establishes that the United States has fielded space control weapons, even as their design, operation, and intended targets remain undisclosed.
