US Space Force confirms weapons deployed in space for first time

BREAKING: US Space Force confirms it has weapons deployed in orbit for the first time, as the US, China and Russia race to militarise space.

There are American weapons in orbit right now. The Space Force confirmed it Monday, for the first time ever.

The official language is worth hearing. The US has, quote, on-orbit space control weapons capable of defending the Joint Force against hostile adversary action. And they can be used, in the Pentagon's own words, for offensive and defensive purposes. No specifics on what the weapons are, or how many. Just the admission.

Rockets like this Falcon Heavy have been carrying more than telescopes lately. And the timing isn't random. The Space Force says China is building counterspace weapons as part of its military modernisation, and Russia openly treats space as a warfighting domain. Everyone's satellites, the ones running navigation, communications and surveillance, are now targets.

The 1967 Outer Space Treaty banned nukes in orbit. It said nothing about everything else. Sixty years after Sputnik, the arms race above our heads just went official.

This is Sara White, reporting for HIT.