BEIJING: China warns US authorities to stop expanding military capabilities and “preparing for war in outer space” after Washington publicly acknowledged having space-control weapons deployed in orbit.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said on September 15 that Beijing opposed the weaponisation of outer space, its transformation into a battlefield and an arms race.
The warning followed a September 14 announcement by U.S. Air Force Secretary Troy Meink at the Air, Space and Cyber Conference in National Harbour, Maryland. Meink said the United States now has “on-orbit space control weapons” designed to defend joint forces against hostile action.
#China rejects hyped-up #US-China arms race in outer space, opposes weaponizing the orbit pic.twitter.com/NrID6gXryG
— ShanghaiEye🚀official (@ShanghaiEye) September 15, 2026The U.S. military has not disclosed the number, design or specific capabilities of the systems. The Space Force describes space-control capabilities as potentially using kinetic or non-kinetic means and says they can support offensive or defensive missions.
Russia also criticised the disclosure. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Moscow wanted space to remain free of weapons, while Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova warned that conflict in orbit could have severe consequences for civilian and economic systems that depend on satellites.
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The 1967 Outer Space Treaty prohibits placing nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction in orbit. It does not impose a blanket prohibition on conventional weapons in Earth orbit.
