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U.S. Officials Claim Orbit-Operable Space-Control Weapons, Vulnerable

By Drooid · Sep 18, 2026, 3:27 AM UTC · How we work

Summary

Story summary

U.S. officials say they possess orbit-operable “space-control weapons.”
Space Force defines space control as destroying, disrupting, or degrading vital outer-space assets.
Reported space-control weapons include jammers, laser dazzlers, co-orbital interceptors, and satellite-damage sprays.
A former defense and intelligence official warns the United States is “absolutely vulnerable to a Pearl Harbor in space.”
The same official says the United States cannot yet respond effectively to the growing space threat.

History

Historical Context

On 11 January 2007 China’s PLA used a kinetic-kill missile to destroy the FY-1C weather satellite, the first successful ASAT intercept since the United States shot down Solwind in 1985. The blast generated over 3,000 trackable debris fragments, prompting UN-OSA calls for stricter mitigation and today’s U.S. Space Force warnings of a “Pearl Harbor in space.”

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Story summary

U.S. officials say they possess orbit-operable “space-control weapons.”
Space Force defines space control as destroying, disrupting, or degrading vital outer-space assets.
Reported space-control weapons include jammers, laser dazzlers, co-orbital interceptors, and satellite-damage sprays.
A former defense and intelligence official warns the United States is “absolutely vulnerable to a Pearl Harbor in space.”
The same official says the United States cannot yet respond effectively to the growing space threat.

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