Space weapon
type of weapon used in space warfare
Space weapons are weapons used in space warfare. They include weapons that can attack space systems in orbit (for example, anti-satellite weapons), attack targets on the earth from space or disable missiles travelling through space. In the course of the militarisation of space, such weapons were developed mainly by the contesting superpowers during the Cold War, and some have already been deployed in space. Space weapons are also a central theme in military science fiction and sci-fi video games.
Disclosed space weapons
The Air Force Secretary, Troy Meink, disclosed at an Air & Space Forces Association conference on September 14, 2026 that the United States had already deployed via the U.S. Space Force active "on-orbit space control weapons capable of defending the joint force against hostile adversary action".
Space-to-space weapons
The Soviet Almaz secret military space station program was equipped with a fixed 23mm autocannon to prevent hostile interception or boarding by hostile forces. This was the first and, as of 2022, the only space-to-space weapon to be fired in orbit.
The Soviet uncrewed Polyus weapons platform was designed to be equipped with a megawatt carbon-dioxide laser and a self-defense cannon. Similarly, the Soviet Cascade spacecraft (which was designed on the same platform as the Polyus) was planned to have an array of space-to-space missiles on the front.
The Russian Space Forces developed maneuverable satellites under the Nivelir program in the late 2010s, officially referred to as "inspector satellites", but suspected by U.S. private intelligence agency Slingshot Aerospace and Dutch astronomer Marco Langbroek to have an anti-satellite kinetic weapon onboard in one of them.
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This entry incorporates text from “Space weapon” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.