The United States acknowledged this Monday for the first time that the U.S. Space Force has deployed “space control” weapons in orbit, a capability that, according to the Secretary of the Air Force, Troy Meink, is intended to defend U.S. forces against hostile actions from adversaries.
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“We are increasing readiness against existing threats, and the United States has space control weapons in orbit capable of defending the Joint Force against hostile actions from adversaries,” Meink said during a speech at the Air, Space and Cyber conference held in Maryland. The institution did not detail which systems are in orbit, how many there are, or when they were deployed.
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Meink framed the deployment as a response to the development of space military capabilities by other countries and stated that the United States must increase its readiness against rapidly evolving threats.
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“We must increase our combat power and innovate faster than anyone else, affordably,” he said. The secretary also announced progress in other U.S. space programs, including the development of a space-based interceptor system and a constellation intended to detect and track mobile targets from orbit. Specifically, launches covering the project will begin this month.
