The United States has announced it has deployed a weapon in Earth's orbit, though officials have given few details about its capabilities or purpose. Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink said the "on orbit" weapon was needed to protect US forces from hostile action, but declined to say what it does or when it was launched, prompting speculation among defence analysts about its likely function and reigniting concerns about a potential arms race in space.

Experts consulted by the BBC suggested the weapon is most likely a non-destructive system, such as an electronic warfare or radio-jamming platform capable of disabling enemy satellites' communications links, rather than a more destructive "kinetic kill vehicle" that could create dangerous orbital debris. Space has been a militarised domain since the Soviet Union's Istrebitel Sputnikov satellite-destroyer programme in the late 1960s, and analysts note that the US, Russia, China and India have all since developed varying forms of anti-satellite or counter-space technology, making comparisons between the powers' capabilities difficult without further detail.