U.S. Military Leaders Call for Readiness in Cislunar Space Amid New Weapon Deployments
U.S. top military officials announced plans to prepare forces for operations from Earth’s seabed to the region between Earth and the Moon, following a disclosure of on-orbit weapons, while China warned against space militarization.
U.S. senior military leaders said the armed forces must be ready to fight in the region between Earth’s orbit and the Moon, known as cislunar space, after the Pentagon disclosed the deployment of weapons on orbit. General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told attendees at the Air, Space and Cyber Conference that the service must "be prepared to fight, endure and win ... from the seabed to cislunar space."
Lt. Gen. Gregory Gagnon, head of the Space Force’s Combat Forces Command, added that the newest military branch is gearing up to defend U.S. interests as humanity moves deeper into space. He said intelligence reports indicate that potential adversaries, including the People’s Republic of China, are seeking to extend warfare into space.
Air Force Secretary Troy Meink announced that the United States has fielded "on-orbit space control weapons," a claim that challenges long-standing norms that outer space be used solely for peaceful purposes.
China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun responded that Beijing "upholds the peaceful use of outer space, maintains outer space security and opposes the weaponization, militarization and an arms race in outer space," urging the United States to halt its military preparations in space.
The legality of deploying weapons in cislunar space remains uncertain under the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, which prohibits placing nuclear weapons in space and requires that celestial bodies be used exclusively for peaceful purposes. The Space Force plans to double its personnel to about 25,000 within five years, with two-thirds of the growth focused on combat forces.