00:00The U.S. Space Force says the United States has deployed weapons in orbit,
00:05publicly confirming such space-based capabilities for the first time.
00:09The Space Force says the weapons are designed to protect U.S. and allied forces from hostile threats in space.
00:16The U.S. Space Force did not provide specific details about the weapons,
00:21but said the systems could be used for both defensive and offensive operations.
00:26U.S. officials have repeatedly identified Russia and China
00:30as the two main potential threats to American military interests in space.
00:35The use of space for military purposes dates back to the early space race
00:40after the Soviet Union launched Sputnik into the orbit in 1957,
00:44with both Washington and Moscow began exploring ways to both arm and destroy satellites.
00:49The biggest concern was once about nuclear weapons in space,
00:53but the superpowers and other countries signed the Outer Space Treaty in 1967,
00:59effectively banning weapons of mass destruction in orbit.
01:03Since then, China, India, Russia and the U.S. have continued developing other military space capabilities
01:09that fall outside those treaty restrictions.
Comments