China on Tuesday urged the United States to stop expanding its military capabilities in space, a day after Washington publicly confirmed for the first time that it has weapons deployed in Earth's orbit.
"We urge the U.S. side to stop expanding its military capabilities and preparing for war in outer space," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told a news briefing in Beijing, according to AFP. Guo said China opposes the weaponization of space, turning it into a battlefield, and an arms race there, and he called on Washington to take concrete steps to preserve global strategic stability.
Russia also objected. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow wants space kept free of any weapons and hopes for broad international cooperation toward its complete demilitarization.
The disclosure came on Monday from Air Force Secretary Troy Meink. Speaking at the Air & Space Forces Association's Air, Space & Cyber Conference in Maryland, he said the U.S. has fielded "on-orbit space control weapons capable of defending the Joint Force against hostile adversary action." Meink did not say what the weapons are or how they work.
A U.S. statement accompanying the announcement said space control covers the missions needed to contest and control the space domain, using both kinetic and non-kinetic means against adversary capabilities, and that these capabilities can be used for offensive and defensive purposes. It did not say what types of weapons have been deployed or how many.
According to the Global Times, which cited The Washington Post and Air & Space Forces Magazine, Meink said the wording of the announcement was deliberate and described the disclosure as important for deterrence. He declined to say whether the systems are kinetic and did not explain why the United States chose to go public now.
China's state-run Global Times argued that the disclosure reflects an American bid for dominance in space. Song Zhongping, a Hong Kong-based military commentator and former instructor in the Chinese army, told AFP the announcement was "no surprise at all," since the U.S. capability had long been an open secret. He said the only change was that Washington had stopped keeping it ambiguous. He added that China "will not stand by and do nothing," and that whether Beijing deploys weapons in space will depend on whether Washington moves further in that direction.
Analysts cited by AFP said the announcement confirmed what was widely assumed, but that its timing could deepen tensions with Beijing and raise the risk of an arms race in space.
The exchange comes as scrutiny grows over the role of space-based intelligence in recent conflicts. The Wall Street Journal has reported that China gave Iran satellite imagery that helped Tehran target military facilities in Jordan in July, in an attack that killed U.S. service members. Beijing has denied the report. Washington has also accused Moscow of developing an anti-satellite weapon that could be launched from space, a concern the White House raised in 2024.
The 1967 Outer Space Treaty bans nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction in orbit, but it does not prohibit conventional weapons in space.
