The US acknowledgement that the Pentagon is operating weapons in Earth’s orbit is a milestone in the militarisation of space, and comes at a time when American officials say they are encountering ever more aggressive orbital activities from China and Russia.
US Space Force chief Douglas Schiess on Tuesday (US time) said his branch was operating “on-orbit weapons that can defend the Joint Force against space-enabled attacks”.
Dual-use systems could even blur the line between weapons and non-weapons, according to space and Russia specialist Thibaut Stussi from Georgetown University.
Speaking at a Paris space defence conference on Tuesday, Richard Palmer, the director of the Capability and Resource Integration Directorate at US Space Command, said Washington’s acknowledgement of its space weapons program was “fundamental to ensuring that we prevent deterrence from failing”.
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How
Summarized version
While specifics remain vague, space weaponry is currently considered to exist in two basic forms. India and North Korea are also understood to possess some space weapon capabilities, and Germany has a €35 billion military space-spending plan aimed at countering threats from adversaries.
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Sunrise on the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft’s solar panels this morning, bringing two Planet Labs satellites to station
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The article, shortened and in plain language
The US acknowledgement that the Pentagon is operating weapons in Earth’s orbit is a milestone in the militarisation of space, and comes at a time when American officials say they are encountering ever more aggressive orbital activities from China and Russia.
Space manoeuvres, known as rendezvous and proximity operations (RPOs), have seen Western satellites “buzzed” by other satellites in low-Earth orbit.
US Space Force chief Douglas Schiess on Tuesday (US time) said his branch was operating “on-orbit weapons that can defend the Joint Force against space-enabled attacks”.
Their comments are part of “the increasing comfort level of the US government to speak about aggressive actions in space” that has been building up in recent years, said Victoria Samson, chief director of space security and stability at the nonprofit Secure World Foundation.
Schiess and Meink declined to get into detail about the types of weapons they were referring to when they spoke to reporters after their remarks.
Dual-use systems could even blur the line between weapons and non-weapons, according to space and Russia specialist Thibaut Stussi from Georgetown University.
Despite the intensifying demonstrations, US officials still have not openly discussed specific space weaponry, leaving room for assumptions and interpretations that will shape how US adversaries respond and risk accelerating an arms race in space, said Craig Albert, graduate director of the Master of Arts in Intelligence and Security Studies at Augusta University.
Speaking at a Paris space defence conference on Tuesday, Richard Palmer, the director of the Capability and Resource Integration Directorate at US Space Command, said Washington’s acknowledgement of its space weapons program was “fundamental to ensuring that we prevent deterrence from failing”.
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