Unsafe space: On the U.S. and ‘on-orbit space control weapons‘

Although the U.S. military doctrine was openly considering offensive and defensive space control by 2025, the admission on September 14 by U.S. Air Force Secretary Troy Meink, and confirmed by Space Force chief Gen. Douglas Schiess, that the country has deployed “on-orbit space control weapons” to “defend against hostile adversary action” is cause for concern. Satellite systems increasingly underpin communications, energy, and financial networks and many commercial systems serve civilian and military users. To that end, the U.S., Russia, China, and India, among others, have been developing counter-space capabilities while contributing to the technological and strategic environment rendering earth orbit the next major battlefield. The increasing military use of commercial satellites can endanger the protections they enjoy under international humanitarian law even as this law is underprepared for satellites being highly interconnected and often dual-use.