US has weapons in space

The United States has confirmed for the first time that it has deployed weapons in space.

The announcement has led to China accusing Washington of “preparing for war” beyond Earth.

Troy Meink, the US Air Force Secretary, revealed that the Space Force has weapons operating in orbit which the Pentagon says can be used to protect American forces against hostile action.

China responded on Tuesday by calling on Washington to halt its military expansion in space.

Guo Jiakun, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, said: “We urge the US side to stop expanding its military capabilities and preparing for war in outer space.”

Beijing also warned against an arms race and repeated its opposition to the weaponisation of space.

Guo said China had “long been committed to the peaceful use of outer space” and called on America to “safeguard global strategic stability with concrete actions”.

The Chinese response followed an announcement by Meink at the Air, Space and Cyber Conference at National Harbor in Maryland on Monday.

The US Space Force said it now possessed “on-orbit space control weapons capable of defending the Joint Force against hostile adversary action”.

It declined to identify the weapons or disclose how many had been deployed.

The Space Force said “space control” involved both kinetic and non-kinetic systems and that the capabilities could be used for offensive as well as defensive purposes.

Meink also refused to say when the weapons became operational or whether they involved kinetic impactors, directed energy, electronic warfare or cyber capabilities.

He said the decision to disclose their existence had been deliberate and that the terminology used had been “very well thought out”.

Meink said revealing details of the systems would not benefit their deterrent value.

“It is critically important that we maintain our dominance, not only in the air but in space,” he said.

A US official told The Washington Post that the weapons could potentially be used against an enemy satellite if it was being employed to target American troops or another US satellite.

The newspaper said the announcement represented the first acknowledgement by Washington that it possessed an offensive capability based in space.

The Space Force identified China and Russia as the principal threats to US interests in orbit.

In its statement, the service said China was developing and operating space and counter-space systems as part of its military modernisation programme.

It said Russia regarded space as a “warfighting domain” and believed superiority there could prove decisive in future conflicts.

The United States has for years accused both countries of developing systems capable of interfering with or destroying satellites.

American military satellites provide communications, intelligence, missile warning, navigation and targeting information for US forces.

The US announcement comes as the Trump administration develops Golden Dome, its proposed missile defence system.

The programme is expected to include space-based interceptors intended to destroy missiles travelling towards the United States.

China has criticised Golden Dome and has repeatedly called for international agreements restricting the deployment of weapons in space.

Beijing and Moscow first submitted a proposed Treaty on the Prevention of the Placement of Weapons in Outer Space, known as the PPWT, to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva in 2008.

The proposal sought to prevent countries from placing weapons in orbit and from using or threatening force against spacecraft.

The United States opposed the proposal, arguing that it did not adequately cover ground-based anti-satellite systems and lacked effective verification arrangements.

The US State Department has previously said it can be difficult to determine whether a spacecraft is a weapon simply by observing its behaviour in orbit.

Military activity in space is currently governed principally by the Outer Space Treaty, which entered into force in 1967.

The agreement prohibits countries from putting nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction into orbit.

It also bans military bases, weapons testing and military manoeuvres on the Moon and other celestial bodies.

The treaty does not impose a general prohibition on conventional weapons being deployed in Earth orbit.

The United States, China and Russia are all parties to the agreement.

Meink said the US decision to develop military capabilities in orbit was intended to allow American forces to operate in an increasingly contested environment.

China maintained that Washington should reverse course.

Guo said Beijing opposed attempts to “weaponize” outer space or turn it into “a war zone”.