{ "archive_path": "archive/1789553150.492699", "base_url": "www.twz.com/space/u-s-admits-it-has-weapons-in-orbit", "basename": "u-s-admits-it-has-weapons-in-orbit", "bookmarked_date": "2026-09-16 10:05", "canonical": { "archive_org_path": "https://web.archive.org/web/www.twz.com/space/u-s-admits-it-has-weapons-in-orbit", "dom_path": "output.html", "favicon_path": "favicon.ico", "git_path": "git/", "google_favicon_path": "https://www.google.com/s2/favicons?domain=www.twz.com", "headers_path": "headers.json", "htmltotext_path": "htmltotext.txt", "index_path": "index.html", "media_path": "media/", "mercury_path": "mercury/content.html", "pdf_path": "output.pdf", "readability_path": "readability/content.html", "screenshot_path": "screenshot.png", "singlefile_path": "singlefile.html", "warc_path": "warc/", "wget_path": "www.twz.com/space/u-s-admits-it-has-weapons-in-orbit.html" }, "domain": "www.twz.com", "extension": "", "hash": "12KCWQFP2TYHT5WNMZ9W", "history": { "archive_org": [], "dom": [], "favicon": [ { "cmd": [ "curl", "--silent", "--location", "--compressed", "--max-time", "120", "--output", "favicon.ico", "--user-agent", "Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/118.0.0.0 Safari/537.36 ArchiveBox/0.7.4 (+https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox/) curl/curl 8.14.1 (x86_64-pc-linux-gnu)", "https://www.google.com/s2/favicons?domain=www.twz.com" ], "cmd_version": "curl 8.14.1 (x86_64-pc-linux-gnu)", "end_ts": "2026-09-16T13:38:18.416744+00:00", "index_texts": null, "output": "favicon.ico", "pwd": "/data/archive/1789553150.492699", "schema": "ArchiveResult", "start_ts": "2026-09-16T13:38:17.904794+00:00", "status": "succeeded" } ], "git": [], "headers": [ { "cmd": [ "curl", "--silent", "--location", "--compressed", "--head", "--max-time", "120", "--user-agent", "Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/118.0.0.0 Safari/537.36 ArchiveBox/0.7.4 (+https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox/) curl/curl 8.14.1 (x86_64-pc-linux-gnu)", "https://www.twz.com/space/u-s-admits-it-has-weapons-in-orbit" ], "cmd_version": "curl 8.14.1 (x86_64-pc-linux-gnu)", "end_ts": "2026-09-16T13:38:18.652204+00:00", "index_texts": null, "output": "headers.json", "pwd": "/data/archive/1789553150.492699", "schema": "ArchiveResult", "start_ts": "2026-09-16T13:38:18.424665+00:00", "status": "succeeded" } ], "htmltotext": [], "media": [], "mercury": [ { "cmd": [ "/app/node_modules/@postlight/parser/cli.js", "https://www.twz.com/space/u-s-admits-it-has-weapons-in-orbit" ], "cmd_version": "1.0.0", "end_ts": "2026-09-16T13:38:53.740929+00:00", "index_texts": null, "output": "mercury", "pwd": "/data/archive/1789553150.492699", "schema": "ArchiveResult", "start_ts": "2026-09-16T13:38:50.368411+00:00", "status": "succeeded" } ], "pdf": [], "readability": [ { "cmd": [ "/app/node_modules/readability-extractor/readability-extractor", "/tmp/tmpv46vvr2d", "https://www.twz.com/space/u-s-admits-it-has-weapons-in-orbit" ], "cmd_version": "0.0.11", "end_ts": "2026-09-16T13:38:50.355509+00:00", "index_texts": [ "Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink made a bombshell admission this morning, disclosing that there are on-orbit weapons deployed right now to protect America\u2019s interests in space. Those weapons support a Space Control mission set, and the U.S. Space Force has now also shared additional details about that directly with TWZ. \n\n\n\nMeink first made mention of what he described as \u201con-orbit space control weapons\u201d during his keynote speech earlier today at the Air & Space Forces Association\u2019s (AFA) 2026 Air, Space & Cyber Conference, at which TWZ is in attendance. As head of the Department of the Air Force, Meink serves as the top civilian overseeing both the Air Force and the Space Force. Space-based weapons have historically been a very sensitive topic for the U.S. military, with much discussion over the decades about whether such capabilities could already exist to varying degrees in the American arsenal. There has already been a dramatic shift in this regard in recent years, with the head of U.S. Space Command (SPACECOM) openly declaring the acquisition of new anti-satellite weapons to be a top priority just last month.\n\n\n\nThe first official painting commissioned by the Space Force, seen here, explicitly depicts a duel between a reusable spaceplane and a hostile \u2018killer satellite.\u2019 USSF \n\n\n\n\u201cToday, we continue to ensure we remain ready to meet the challenges of evolving threats, wherever they exist,\u201d Meink said during his keynote address. \u201cThis is why the United States now has on-orbit space control weapons capable of defending the joint force against hostile adversary action.\u201d\n\n\n\n\u201cThat phrase was very well thought out. So whatever I said before is what I say again,\u201d he said when asked if he could elaborate in any way on those capabilities at a question-and-answer session immediately following his speech. \u201cIt is critically important that we maintain our dominance not only in the air, but in space, and so we\u2019ve had to take steps to make sure that when we\u2019re threatened, we can take care of that.\u201d\n\n\n\n\u201cNot going to go into specifics on the type of weapon,\u201d Meink said when asked again if he could elaborate at a press roundtable with TWZ and other outlets on the sidelines of the Air, Space & Cyber Conference today. \u201cJust like in air dominance, we need to maintain dominance in space as it becomes more and more important to how we function, how we operate militarily, and economically [and] civilian-wise.\u201d\n\n\n\n\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of factors that go into how we talk about these things. We spend a lot of time talking about how we\u2019re going to talk about these things,\u201d Meink added at the roundtable when asked about why this disclosure was being made now and its implications for deterring adversaries. \n\n\n\n\u201cIt is important from a deterrence perspective, but on the other hand, me talking about the details of what we\u2019re doing would actually not benefit that deterrence,\u201d he continued. \u201cSo I\u2019m not going to talk about the specifics of what we\u2019re doing, whether we\u2019ve tested or not tested, or anything else.\u201d\n\n\n\nSecretary of the Air Force Troy Meink speaks during the change of responsibility ceremony for Chief of Space Operations Gen. Douglas Schiess on Sept. 3, 2026. USAF/Eric Dietrich \n\n\n\nTWZ had separately reached out for more information after Meink made his initial remarks this morning.\n\n\n\n\u201cIt is longstanding policy that the U.S. will protect and defend the Joint Force through all domains,\u201d a Space Force spokesperson subsequently told us. \u201cWe are increasing readiness against existing threats, and the U.S. has on-orbit space control weapons capable of defending the Joint Force against hostile adversary action.\u201d\n\n\n\n\u201cSpace control encapsulates the mission areas required to contest and control the space domain \u2013 employing kinetic and non-kinetic means to affect adversary capabilities through disruption, degradation and even destruction, if necessary,\u201d they continued. \u201cThese capabilities can be employed for offensive and defensive purposes at the direction of combatant commands. U.S. military operations are conducted in compliance with international law, including the Outer Space Treaty and LOAC [the Law of Armed Conflict].\u201d\n\n\n\nThe Outer Space Treaty, which came into force in 1967, prohibits the United States and other signatories from placing nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in orbit. It does not impose limits on the deployment of conventional weaponry. After receiving this initial statement from Space Force, TWZ followed up to ask whether the service was confirming that it has kinetic (e.g. physical interceptors) and non-kinetic space control weapons (e.g. electronic warfare jammers) now, and that any such weapons could be employed both offensively and defensively.\n\n\n\n\u201cWe are confirming that the United States has on-orbit space control weapons capable of defending the Joint Force against hostile adversary actions,\u201d the Space Force spokesperson said in response. \u201cBeyond that, we will not discuss specific operational methods, payloads, technical characteristics, or employment concepts.\u201d\n\n\n\nA look inside a U.S. space command center. US Space Command \n\n\n\n\u201cAs the Space Force continues to mature, our public discussion is intended to clarify doctrine and mission sets, not disclose sensitive operational details,\u201d they added. \u201cWhat is important is that the U.S. Space Force is committed to the long-term safety, security, and sustainability of the space domain, and our operations are guided by longstanding principles of professional military behavior and international law. That commitment remains central as space operations continue to mature and normalize.\u201d\n\n\n\nThere are a wide range of means by which a platform on-orbit can attack another or otherwise defend against incoming threats. Not all of those options involve effects that are destructive or even irreversible, either. For instance, a laser could be used to blind optics on a target temporarily without damaging them. Electronic warfare suites could similarly disrupt a threat without causing any kind of permanent harm. Doing so could help provide extra time for a friendly asset to maneuver out of danger. There are, of course, also capabilities that do seek to damage and/or destroy a target, such as physical interceptors, grappling arms, aerosols that can be sprayed on optics and solar panels, or even just using one satellite as a kinetic weapon to smash into something else.\n\n\n\nA U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency graphic highlighting some of the ways on-orbit attack can be carried out. DIA \n\n\n\nSo-called counter-space weapons, as a broad category, are also not limited to space-based capabilities. There are also direct-ascent anti-satellite (ASAT) interceptors launched from the surface and other capabilities deployed from within the Earth\u2019s atmosphere. Prior to today, the only acknowledged anti-satellite weapons the U.S. military had in inventory were ground-based electronic warfare systems. In 2022, under President Joe Biden, the U.S. government had announced a self-imposed moratorium\u00a0on destructive direct ascent anti-satellite weapons testing. Still, this would not have precluded development of those capabilities using other means, and it\u2019s not even clear if that policy is still in place.\n\n\n\nIt is important to further note here that plans for new space-based anti-missile interceptors are at the core of the Trump administration\u2019s Golden Dome missile defense initiative.\n\n\n\nThere is certainly no debate about the absolutely vital role that space-based capabilities \u2013 including early warning, general intelligence gathering, weapons guidance, near-real-time communications, and more \u2013 play in U.S. military operations today. Similarly, it is well-established at this point that America\u2019s principal global competitors and potential adversaries, especially China and Russia, have been actively developing and fielding increasingly more threatening anti-satellite capabilities. China\u2019s People\u2019s Liberation Army (PLA) has also been dramatically expanding its own space-based capabilities, steadily eroding the U.S. military\u2019s historic dominance in this domain and presenting new threats to U.S. forces.\n\n\n\n\u201cFrom the broadest perspective, maybe the most critical characteristic of the responsive and adaptive national security space architecture called for in the President\u2019s Ensuring American Space Superiority executive order is that survivability matters at least as much as performance,\u201d U.S. Space Force Gen. Stephen Whiting, head of SPACECOM, said in August at the annual Space & Missile Defense (SMD) Symposium. \u201cIn space, there is no safe harbor. You can\u2019t dig a trench or build a shield. Our satellites are consistently or predictably in an opponent\u2019s weapons engagement zone. And we can build the most high-performing, exquisite satellites in human history, but if they depend on fragile, targetable supporting infrastructure, their performance will drop to zero on the first day of the next war.\u201d\n\n\n\nU.S. Space Force Gen. Stephen Whiting, head of US Space Command, seen speaking at the 2026 DoDIIS Worldwide Conference on August 10, 2026. DIA \n\n\n\nWhiting publicly declared at that time that having \u201ccredible, acknowledged\u201d options for countering enemy capabilities in space, to include damaging or even destroying them, was a key priority for deterring hostile action and surviving if a major fight in orbit were to break out.\n\n\n\n\u201cProtective measures on satellites is just like thinking about protective measures on aircraft, okay? And we\u2019re working through that,\u201d Lt. Gen. Gregory Gagnon, head of the Space Force\u2019s Combat Forces Command (CFC), also told TWZ and others more recently at a roundtable\u00a0at AFA\u2019s Warfare Symposium back in February.\u00a0\u201cI won\u2019t provide specifics, because I want those protective measures to work, right? I don\u2019t want to tell Beijing and Moscow what I\u2019ve done.\u201d\n\n\n\n\u201cBut protecting and defending satellites can\u2019t simply be done by protect and defend. You can\u2019t run away from a bully forever. Sometimes you got to turn around and punch,\u201d Gagnon continued. \u201cSo protect and defend, although necessary, is insufficient to deliver space control. We also need, as part of our joint force, the ability to attack.\u201d\n\n\n\nU.S. Space Force Lt. Gen. Gregory Gagnon, commander of USSF Combat Forces Command, at center, seen at Schriever Space Force Base, Colorado, in December 2025. USSF \n\n\n\nMeink\u2019s remarks today put Gagnon\u2019s prior comments, in particular, in a whole new light.\n\n\n\nThe Secretary of the Air Force\u2019s new disclosure has prompted additional questions beyond just what actual weapon systems the U.S. military has actually fielded in space. There are long-standing concerns about the potentially wide-reaching ramifications of increasingly weaponizing space. As Meink himself noted today, space-based communications and other capabilities are increasingly central to daily life, in general, and widespread, long-term disruption could have serious negative economic and other impacts. \n\n\n\nAt the roundtable today, Meink pushed back on a question about these concerns, citing Chinese and Russian anti-satellite developments.\n\n\n\n\u201cIs there a question in the room by anybody about whether or not the Chinese and Russians have been developing these sorts of weapons?\u201d he said. \u201cWe are focused on making sure we can protect ourselves and operate in that environment.\u201d\n\n\n\n\u201cDepends on where you sit, right, you know? But to say that it\u2019s the responsibility for the U.S. government to protect its citizens from emerging threats makes perfect sense to me,\u201d now-retired Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman said last year when asked a similar question in the context of the Golden Dome initiative\u2019s plans for space-based interceptors. \u201cAnd we clearly see a country like the PRC [People\u2019s Republic of China] investing heavily in these kinds of threats, whether it\u2019s hypersonic [weapons], whether it\u2019s threats from space. And so now it\u2019s time for the U.S. government to step up to the responsibilities to protect American citizens from those threats.\u201d\n\n\n\nThough many questions remain, it is now clear that the U.S. military is not just planning to, but has already fielded at least some weapon systems in orbit as the threat ecosystem outside the Earth\u2019s atmosphere continues to expand and evolve. \n\n\n\nContact the author: joe@twz.com" ], "output": "readability", "pwd": "/data/archive/1789553150.492699", "schema": "ArchiveResult", "start_ts": "2026-09-16T13:38:47.718063+00:00", "status": "succeeded" } ], "screenshot": [], "singlefile": [], "title": [ { "cmd": [ "curl", "--silent", "--location", "--compressed", "--max-time", "120", "--user-agent", "Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/118.0.0.0 Safari/537.36 ArchiveBox/0.7.4 (+https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox/) curl/curl 8.14.1 (x86_64-pc-linux-gnu)", "https://www.twz.com/space/u-s-admits-it-has-weapons-in-orbit" ], "cmd_version": "curl 8.14.1 (x86_64-pc-linux-gnu)", "end_ts": "2026-09-16T13:38:47.710392+00:00", "index_texts": null, "output": "U.S. Admits It Has Weapons In Orbit", "pwd": "/data/archive/1789553150.492699", "schema": "ArchiveResult", "start_ts": "2026-09-16T13:38:47.657277+00:00", "status": "succeeded" } ], "wget": [ { "cmd": [ "wget", "--no-verbose", "--adjust-extension", "--convert-links", "--force-directories", "--span-hosts", "--no-parent", "-e", "robots=off", "--reject=js,mjs,woff,woff2,ttf,otf,eot,mp4,m4v,mov,webm,ogv,mkv,avi,flv", "--timeout=120", "--restrict-file-names=windows", "--page-requisites", "--user-agent=Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/118.0.0.0 Safari/537.36 ArchiveBox/0.7.4 (+https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox/) wget/GNU Wget 1.21.3", "--compression=auto", "--timestamping", "https://www.twz.com/space/u-s-admits-it-has-weapons-in-orbit" ], "cmd_version": "GNU Wget 1.21.3", "end_ts": "2026-09-16T13:38:47.646915+00:00", "index_texts": null, "output": "www.twz.com/space/u-s-admits-it-has-weapons-in-orbit.html", "pwd": "/data/archive/1789553150.492699", "schema": "ArchiveResult", "start_ts": "2026-09-16T13:38:18.659406+00:00", "status": "succeeded" } ] }, "icons": null, "is_archived": true, "is_static": false, "latest": { "archive_org": null, "dom": null, "favicon": "favicon.ico", "git": null, "media": null, "pdf": null, "screenshot": null, "singlefile": null, "title": "U.S. Admits It Has Weapons In Orbit", "warc": null, "wget": "www.twz.com/space/u-s-admits-it-has-weapons-in-orbit.html" }, "link_dir": "/data/archive/1789553150.492699", "newest_archive_date": "2026-09-16T13:38:50.368411+00:00", "num_failures": 0, "num_outputs": 6, "oldest_archive_date": "2026-09-16T13:38:17.904794+00:00", "path": "/space/u-s-admits-it-has-weapons-in-orbit", "schema": "Link", "scheme": "https", "snapshot_id": "c5ffc0d1-f962-475f-9ded-651ea6c88633", "sources": [ "/data/sources/1789553150-import.txt" ], "tags": ",war-wiki,escalation,pool", "tags_str": "war-wiki,escalation,pool", "timestamp": "1789553150.492699", "title": "U.S. Admits It Has Weapons In Orbit", "updated": "2026-09-16T13:38:17.904615+00:00", "updated_date": "2026-09-16 13:38", "url": "https://www.twz.com/space/u-s-admits-it-has-weapons-in-orbit" }