US orbital weapons deployment
US Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink confirmed on September 14 at the Air, Space and Cyber Conference that the US has deployed "on-orbit space control weapons" in Earth orbit capable of both offensive and defensive use against hostile action -- the first public US acknowledgment of an actual weapon (rather than a dual-use "capability") placed in space. Meink and the Space Force gave no details on the weapon's type, number or deployment date; experts told the BBC and Al Jazeera the system was most likely a non-destructive electronic-warfare or radio-jamming platform rather than a kinetic "kill vehicle," since the latter would generate dangerous orbital debris. The announcement was explicitly framed as a signal to China and Russia, both of which the Space Force says are developing counterspace capabilities to disrupt or destroy US satellites; China's foreign ministry called for a halt to the "weaponisation of outer space," while the Kremlin said it wanted space kept "free of any weapons."
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As it ran
16 September 2026
15 September 2026
- US has deployed a space weapon, air force secretary says BBC News
- US confirms for first time it has deployed space weapons BBC News
- What are ‘space weapons’, which US says it has deployed into orbit? Al Jazeera
- What weapon could the US have put into space? BBC News
- US military confirms it has deployed weapons in space CNN
- U.S. Has Deployed Weapons in Space, Air Force Secretary Says New York Times
- Warning of space arms race as US confirms weapons in Earth's orbit BBC News
14 September 2026
- US has weapons deployed in orbit, Space Force says South China Morning Post