spacetoday.net: Pentagon reveals US has weapons in orbit

Posted: Sun, Sep 20, 2026, 6:21 AM ET (1021 GMT)
Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink revealed Monday that the Space Force has deployed space-control weapons in orbit. He said in a speech at the Air Space & Cyber conference that the U.S. "now has on-orbit space control weapons capable of defending the joint force against hostile adversary action." He declined to give additional details, including whether they are kinetic of non-kinetic weapons. The statement was nonetheless unusually explicit for the Pentagon, which has increasingly discussed the need for weapons to defend U.S. satellites and counter adversary space capabilities but has disclosed few details about such systems. Meink also disclosed that the Space Force plans to begin launching satellites this month for its space-based Air Moving Target Indication, or AMTI, constellation, designed to help track aircraft and other moving targets from orbit. SpaceX has a $4.16 billion contract for that constellation.