The US Air Force has confirmed for the first time that it has deployed a weapon in Earth's orbit, with Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink saying the move was necessary to protect American forces from "evolving threats". Speaking at the Air, Space and Cyber Conference, Meink gave no details on the weapon's capabilities or deployment date, but the confirmation marks a significant shift for the US Space Force from a purely defensive posture towards a more explicitly offensive one, amid growing concern over Russian and Chinese efforts to develop anti-satellite capabilities.

A 1967 treaty bans weapons of mass destruction in orbit, but the US, Russia and China have since explored other space-based military capabilities not covered by the pact, including methods to target rivals' satellites used for communications, surveillance and navigation. In 2025, Donald Trump issued an executive order reinforcing the Space Force's offensive role, and the White House has said space-based systems will be central to its planned "Golden Dome" missile defence shield. The disclosure follows a February revelation that two Russian satellites had likely intercepted communications from at least a dozen European satellites since 2022, and a 2024 US warning that Russia had launched a satellite potentially capable of attacking others; the Kremlin has not commented.