The race to put weapons in space
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Why has the United States announced it now has weapons in space?
The United States now has on-orbit space control weapons capable of defending the joint force against hostile adversary action. And with that, a
whole new galactic battleground just opened up.
It is critically important that we maintain we maintain our dominance not only in the air but in space.
The United States has declared it has weapons in space and it's ready to use them.
We've had to take steps to make sure that when we're threatened, we can take care of that.
So we're entering a new era where the opening moves of a war could happen hundreds of kilometres above us. I'm Daniel James, and you're listening to 7am. Today, senior analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, Dr Malcolm Davis, on the space weapons now at the ready and the likelihood of an orbital offensive. It's Monday, September 21. Malcolm, it's long been suspected, but we now have seen the US come out and admit it, that it has weapons in space. What's the significance of that and why now?
Essentially, what the US has done is respond to developments by China and Russia, who have been developing weapons in space for many decades.
We continue to ensure we remain ready to meet the challenges of evolving threats wherever they exist.
China first tested an anti-satellite missile in 2007. The Russians did the same thing in 2021. Both countries have been doing what's known as co-orbital operations, essentially, which demonstrate the capabilities and the technology for co-orbital anti-satellite weapons.
How are China and Russia’s anti‑satellite programs influencing U.S. space‑weapon policy?
So the US has been observing this And I think they've now recognized that they can no longer passively look on as the Chinese and the Russians develop
counter space weapons. Space Force launch sites have already hosted 116 orbital launches this year. I think it was actually 117 after yesterday and will be 118 tomorrow. Nearly 60% of all launches on the planet. This is allowing us to maintain and build our commercial and military space advantage.
And this is really about deterrence. It's about strengthening deterrence in space to send the message to China and Russia not to use these counter space weapons. And what kind of weapons do you think we're talking about here? Probably talking about what's known as soft kill weapons. So the missiles that the Chinese and the Russians tested were hard kill. They were physically destroyed. A satellite created a huge cloud of space debris each time. I think the Americans don't want to do that. What they want to do is disable rather than physically destroy. So we're talking about jamming capabilities. We're talking about electronic warfare capabilities. potentially directed energy weapons such as high-energy laser or high-power microwave systems.
What types of “soft‑kill” weapons are being developed for orbital use?
Also, the ability to do cyber attacks on satellites could be something that could be done from the ground. But in terms of these orbital space weapons, I think we are talking electronic warfare and directed energy weapons.
And so strategically, how would these weapons be used? Because it's not like Star Wars or Star Trek up there, We're not talking battles in space. It's more about blinding enemy satellites to achieve the advantage for battles here on Earth.
It's a concept called orbital warfare. And essentially what the system is, is that the US has counter space capabilities that are designed to prevent the Chinese or the Russians launching attacks on our critical satellite technologies. We depend on satellites for everything we do, whether it's war fighting or economies or societies. And it's not like Star Wars. It's not like Star Trek where you basically have necessarily fighters shooting around dogfighting in space. It's a much more slow and deliberate process to be able to prevent an adversary from either attacking our satellites or to utilize our counter space capabilities to deny the adversary the use of their satellites in a war situation. So that's the sort of thing we are talking about.
What are the laws governing the weaponization of space? 1967 Outer Space Treaty Article 4 says that the deployment of nuclear weapons in space is banned, okay?
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
Why has the United States announced it now has weapons in space?
0:00–1:50
2
How are China and Russia’s anti‑satellite programs influencing U.S. space‑weapon policy?
1:50–3:02
3
What types of “soft‑kill” weapons are being developed for orbital use?
3:02–4:43
4
How would space‑based weapons be employed in a real conflict without creating debris?
4:43–6:43
5
What does international law say about weaponising space and the Outer Space Treaty?
6:43–9:04
6
How is Australia preparing for space warfare under its National Defence Strategy?
9:04–10:35
7
What are the risks of kinetic‑kill ASATs and the potential for a Kessler cascade?
10:35–12:16
8
What diplomatic steps could prevent an arms race and limit destructive space weapons?
12:16–15:03
Speakers
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