A New Arms Race is Threatening to Take-off—this time in Outer Space

Credit: United Nationsby Thalif Deen (united nations)Thursday, September 24, 2026Inter Press Service UNITED NATIONS, September 24 (IPS) - The world’s ongoing arms race is threatening to extend beyond planet earth—and spillover into outer space.The US has deployed weapons in space and will use them to defend American forces, Air Force Secretary Troy Meink said last week, according to Cable News Network (CNN). His comments marked the first public acknowledgment of such capabilities, though he offered no details about the weapons or when they were put into orbit. “Today we continue to ensure we remain ready to meet the challenges of evolving threats wherever they exist,” Meink told the Air, Space and Cyber Conference, an annual gathering hosted by the Air & Space Forces Association in National Harbor, Maryland.The disclosure comes as the US faces an advancing space arms race with China and Russia, which are testing sophisticated offensive capabilities.Specifically, American officials have said they are monitoring China’s development of a nuclear-capable partial-orbit hypersonic missile. US intelligence has also suggested Russia is developing a space-based nuclear weapon that could...