US Puts Weapons in Space, China Warns of a New Arms Race
China warns the US against militarising space after Washington confirms deploying space-control weapons, raising fears of a new arms race.
By Pranjal Gupta
"We urge the US to stop expanding its military presence and preparing for war in outer space, and to take concrete actions to uphold global strategic stability," Guo said.
He added that China has consistently supported the peaceful use of outer space and opposed the weaponisation of space, turning it into a battlefield and starting an arms race.
The comments came after US Air Force Secretary Troy Meink confirmed on Monday that the United States already had weapons in orbit capable of defending American and allied military forces against hostile threats.
"Today, we continue to ensure we remain ready to meet the challenges of evolving threats wherever they exist. This is why the United States now has, on orbit, space-control weapons, capable of defending the joint force against hostile adversaries," CNN quoted Meink said as saying.
What does the US deployment mean?
Meink did not disclose what type of weapon had been deployed or how it operates. His comments nevertheless marked a significant development because the US had publicly acknowledged for the first time that it had placed space-control weapons in orbit.
Space has long been used for military purposes, particularly for satellites that provide communications, navigation, surveillance, intelligence and early warning of missile launches. However, countries have generally been more cautious about publicly discussing weapons designed to interfere with or attack other space-based systems.
The distinction is important. A weapon deployed in space does not necessarily mean a system designed to physically destroy another satellite. It could include technology capable of disrupting communications, interfering with signals or disabling another country's space-based assets without physically destroying them.
Bleddyn Bowen of the Royal United Services Institute told BBC News that the weapon mentioned by Meink could potentially be an electronic warfare or radio-jamming system. Such a system could interfere with radio communications or signals used by satellites.
Another possibility is a kinetic weapon capable of physically striking a satellite. Such a system could release a projectile or vehicle that collides with another spacecraft and destroys it.
However, physically destroying satellites carries an additional risk because it can produce large amounts of space debris. That debris can remain in orbit and threaten other satellites, including those belonging to the country that carried out the attack.
Why is space becoming a military concern?
The world's major military powers increasingly depend on satellites for everything from battlefield communications and navigation to intelligence gathering and missile warning.
This means that satellites are becoming strategically important targets during a conflict.
The US, China, Russia and India have all developed capabilities that could potentially threaten satellites from the ground. Anti-satellite weapons can, in principle, use missiles or other technologies to interfere with or destroy objects in orbit.
The deployment of weapons in space would take the competition a step further because it could allow a country to position military systems directly in orbit.
The US has also been developing the proposed Golden Dome missile defence system, which the Trump administration has said could include space-based interceptors designed to counter missiles launched towards the United States.
The exact relationship between those planned systems and the weapons referred to by Meink remains unclear.
Growing concern over a space arms race
The latest exchange between Washington and Beijing comes amid growing competition between the US and China in military technology, including satellites, missile defence and space-based surveillance.
China has repeatedly accused the US of pushing the militarisation of space, while Washington has raised concerns about China's expanding military space capabilities.
Russia has also been accused by the US of developing potentially dangerous space-based weapons. In 2024, CNN reported that US intelligence agencies had assessed that Russia was working on a nuclear weapon for use in space. Such a weapon could potentially destroy or disable satellites by producing a powerful energy effect when detonated.
The concern over such systems goes beyond the rivalry between individual countries. Modern economies and militaries rely heavily on satellites, meaning a major conflict in space could have consequences on Earth as well.
A serious attack on satellites could disrupt communications, navigation systems, financial networks, weather forecasting and military operations. The creation of large amounts of debris could also make parts of Earth's orbit more difficult and dangerous to use.
China's warning therefore reflects a wider concern that competition between major powers could gradually turn outer space from an area of scientific and commercial activity into another domain of military confrontation.
For now, Washington has not revealed the precise nature of the space-control weapons acknowledged by Meink. That lack of detail is likely to fuel further debate over whether the systems are primarily defensive, designed for electronic warfare, or capable of physically attacking other objects in orbit.
