There are American weapons in space
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Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios
Space weapons are real, and the U.S. has them in orbit right now, Air Force Secretary Troy Meink said this week at the Air, Space & Cyber Conference in National Harbor, Maryland.
Why it matters: Meink's statement is the first time the U.S. government has acknowledged deploying weapons in space — a significant change in how the world discusses these highly sensitive, provocative systems.
"We are increasing readiness against existing threats, and the United States has on-orbit space control weapons capable of defending the Joint Force against hostile adversary action," Meink said Monday.
- Later, he added: "We will dramatically increase our combat power by adding large numbers of highly autonomous systems.
Friction point: Meink, when pressed by reporters, wouldn't elaborate on what these astral weapons are capable of, how many exist, or if they've been tested.
- "There are a lot of factors that go into how we talk about these things," he said. "We spend a lot of time talking about how we're going to talk about these things ... Me talking about the details of what we're doing would actually not benefit deterrence."
Context: The Trump administration has expressed interest in both exploring and weaponizing space.
- Militaries rely on the domain for navigation, long-haul communications, surveillance, targeting, missile tracking and more.
Flashback: The U.S. in 1962 executed Starfish Prime, a nuclear burst in space. China and Russia blew up their own satellites in 2007 and 2021, respectively.
- "Is there any question in the room — by anybody — whether or not the Chinese and Russians have been developing these sorts of weapons?" Meink said.
- "We are focused on making sure we can protect ourselves and operate in that environment, as we've done for decades."
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