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The United States has confirmed that it has deployed a weapon in Earth's orbit, marking the first time Washington has publicly acknowledged such an offensive space capability.

US Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink said the "on orbit" weapon was necessary to protect American forces from hostile action. He made the remarks on Monday at the Air, Space and Cyber Conference.

Meink said the US was prepared to respond to "evolving threats", but did not disclose what the weapon is capable of or when it was placed in orbit. The acknowledgement comes as the US military steps up its focus on space amid concerns over the growing capabilities of Russia and China.

US Space Capabilities Expand Amid Russia, China Concerns

Senior US military leaders have previously said Washington planned to strengthen its military capabilities in space. They have pointed to Russian and Chinese programmes aimed at developing ways to attack or disrupt US satellites during a future conflict.

The Trump administration has also described space-based capabilities and interceptor missiles as an important part of its planned "Golden Dome" defence system, which is intended to protect the US from missiles and other airborne threats.

A 1967 treaty prohibits weapons of mass destruction from being placed in orbit. However, the US, Russia and China have continued developing other space-based capabilities outside the scope of that ban, including systems that could target rival satellites.

Space Force Given Offensive Role

Satellites play a critical role in military communications, surveillance and navigation, making them increasingly important to modern warfare.

Last year, President Donald Trump issued an executive order highlighting the US Space Force's role not only in defending American space assets but also as an attacking force.

The US Space Force, established in 2019 as the first new branch of the US military in more than 70 years, was created to protect American assets in space, including hundreds of satellites used for communications and surveillance.

A Space Force spokesperson said "space control" covers missions designed to contest and control the space domain. The service said such operations can involve kinetic and non-kinetic measures intended to disrupt, degrade or destroy an adversary's capabilities when necessary.

The spokesperson added that these capabilities can be used for both offensive and defensive purposes when directed by combatant commands.

Russian Satellites Raise Fresh Concerns

The acknowledgement also comes amid growing scrutiny of Russia's activities in orbit.

In early February, it was reported that two Russian satellites had likely intercepted communications from at least a dozen European satellites since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The interceptions may have enabled Russian intelligence services to access sensitive data being transmitted by the satellites and, hypothetically, could have provided an opportunity to take control of them.

In 2024, the US said Russia had launched a satellite that it believed could be capable of attacking other satellites. Russia did not publicly comment on the allegation.

The US Space Force has also said China "develops and operates space and counterspace capabilities as part of a military modernisation strategy". It has described Russia as viewing space as a warfighting domain and believing that space supremacy could play a decisive role in future conflicts.