US confirms weapons deployed in space for first time, says Space Force

The United States Space Force has officially acknowledged the deployment of space control weapons capable of defensive and offensive operations to counter space-based threats from geopolitical rivals, notably Russia and China.

These capabilities align with a broader military strategy to maintain space supremacy, a domain both Russia and China actively view as critical for future defense dynamics.

Historically, the space domain has been militarized since the inception of the space race, with ongoing international efforts to develop counterspace strategies, despite the 1967 Outer Space Treaty banning weapons of mass destruction in orbit.

WASHINGTON, Sept 15 — The United States has weapons deployed in space, the US Space Force said yesterday, confirming the presence of such capabilities in orbit for the first time.

“The US has on-orbit space control weapons capable of defending the Joint Force against hostile adversary action,” a US Space Force spokesperson said in a statement that did not provide specifics on the weapons.

“Space control encapsulates the mission areas required to contest and control the space domain—employing kinetic and non-kinetic means to affect adversary capabilities,” the statement said, adding that “these capabilities can be employed for offensive and defensive purposes.”

Both Russia and China—the two main geopolitical rivals of the United States—pose potential threats to US interests in space.

China “develops and operates space and counterspace capabilities as part of a military modernization strategy,” while Russia “views space as a warfighting domain and believes space supremacy will be a decisive factor in future conflicts,” according to the US Space Force.

The militarization of space is as old as the space race itself—as soon as Sputnik was launched into orbit in 1957, Washington and Moscow began exploring ways to both arm and destroy satellites.

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.

Since then, Russia, the United States, China and India have explored ways to fight in space outside of that treaty, including by targeting rivals’ satellites, which are key for military communications, surveillance and navigation. — AFP

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美国太空军已正式承认部署了能够进行防御和进攻行动的太空控制武器，以应对来自地缘政治对手（特别是俄罗斯和中国）的太空威胁。

这些能力与维护太空优势的更广泛的军事战略相一致，俄罗斯和中国都积极将太空领域视为未来国防格局的关键所在。

从历史上看，自太空竞赛开始以来，太空领域就一直处于军事化状态，尽管 1967 年《外层空间条约》禁止在轨道上使用大规模杀伤性武器，但国际社会仍在不断努力制定反太空战略。

华盛顿，9 月 15 日——美国太空军昨天表示，美国已在太空部署武器，这是美国首次在轨道上证实此类能力的存在。

美国太空军发言人在一份声明中表示：“美国拥有在轨太空控制武器，能够保护联合部队免受敌对势力的攻击。”但该声明并未提供有关这些武器的具体信息。

声明称：“太空控制涵盖了争夺和控制太空领域所需的任务领域——运用动能和非动能手段来影响敌方能力”，并补充说，“这些能力可以用于进攻和防御目的”。

俄罗斯和中国——美国的两大主要地缘政治对手——都对美国在太空的利益构成潜在威胁。

据美国太空部队称，中国“将太空和反太空能力发展和运用作为军事现代化战略的一部分”，而俄罗斯“将太空视为作战领域，并认为太空优势将是未来冲突的决定性因素”。

太空军事化与太空竞赛本身一样古老——自从1957年苏联发射人造卫星进入轨道以来，华盛顿和莫斯科就开始探索武装和摧毁卫星的方法。

曾经最大的担忧是太空中的核武器，但超级大国和其他国家在 1967 年签署了《外层空间条约》，禁止在轨道上部署大规模杀伤性武器。

此后，俄罗斯、美国、中国和印度一直在探索在《太空条约》之外进行太空作战的方式，包括攻击对手的卫星，这些卫星对于军事通信、监视和导航至关重要。——法新社

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