How Prepared Is the U.S. for Space Warfare?

According to The Washington Times, the concept of actual warfare in space may involve scenarios such as China attacking satellites to cripple the U.S. military—a pressing issue being debated in national security circles regarding how to protect valuable space assets against increasingly capable adversaries.

A central debate is whether the United States should pursue offensive weapons or limit its space assets to defensive capabilities.

Senior U.S. national security sources say that this intense discussion will be a key topic at the 2025 Space Power Conference in Orlando, Florida. The three-day gathering, organized by the U.S. Space Force Association, brings together major players from the defense and military-industrial sectors.

The U.S. Space Force, established as an independent military branch less than six years ago, has become central to discussions in nearly all aspects of military planning and national security.

Analysts predict that conflicts on Earth may extend into space. Adversaries are assessing this as the best way to keep the U.S. military away from battles that could destroy most of their communities, logistics, surveillance systems, and targeted infrastructure.

This could amount to a 21st-century attack on satellites, which is difficult to predict and even harder to stop.

Tory Bruno, CEO of ULA (a U.S. launch service provider formed as a joint venture between Lockheed Martin Space and Boeing Defense, Space & Security, which designs, assembles, sells, and launches rockets), said: “It starts small. Initially, we don’t realize we are under attack. Once we do, things escalate rapidly.”

He added: “The enemy prepares covertly. Initial maneuvers seem routine. Suddenly, without warning, announcement, or even threat, our communications over Taiwan and the Malacca Strait are disrupted. We direct our reconnaissance satellites to focus on these locations, but they are unresponsive. We rotate our infrared space-based missile-warning satellites to search for any heat signatures of activity, but they have just gone offline. Shortly after, GPS over the Pacific region malfunctions. At the same time, Chinese forces may move toward Taiwan or other military targets in the area.”

Bruno emphasized that to prevent such scenarios, the Space Force, the Pentagon, and private industrial partners “must be capable of conducting sustained combat operations in orbit, relocating assets to replace losses, maneuvering valuable satellites, and coordinating and commanding offensive operations against threats.”

Offensive Weapons in Space

Rapid replacement of lost assets is one aspect of this complex question. Another is whether the United States will deploy offensive weapons in space—armaments that, in theory, could neutralize Russian or Chinese satellites if necessary.

It remains unclear whether the U.S. long-term military doctrine in space includes such an approach.

Robert Lightfoot, head of Lockheed Martin’s space division, said: “We must now ask whether we are to be defensive, offensive, or simply deploy capabilities in orbit. This is the position the U.S. has started discussing. Will we have weapons or offensive capabilities in space, or only defensive ones?”

The 1967 Outer Space Treaty prohibits the use of weapons of mass destruction in space or orbit beyond Earth. Whether America’s top adversaries will violate this agreement remains a central question.

It has been claimed that Russia is rapidly advancing a program to deploy anti-satellite weapons with nuclear warheads. A nuclear detonation in space could destroy another country’s satellites.

Similar claims have been made about China, which has invested heavily in developing space weapons capable of destroying or disabling satellites.

A recent report by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission asserted that such capabilities could render U.S. communications, intelligence, and missile-warning systems “incapable” and weaken the military’s ability to conduct joint operations and project power.

Space weapons include three main types: ground-based anti-satellite missiles, robots capable of capturing and destroying satellites without creating space debris, and electronic or directed-energy anti-satellite weapons.

The same U.S.-China commission report claimed: “While China is actively pursuing offensive and defensive capabilities in space, the United States has refrained from developing an offensive space program and has been cautious to avoid actions that could be perceived as the weaponization of space.”

The “Golden Dome” at the Center of Focus

Despite advancements by Russia and China, the Trump administration continues to argue that the United States remains the global leader in space capabilities. The country’s latest national security strategy calls for increased investment to maintain superiority.

The strategy states: “The United States must simultaneously invest in research to maintain and advance its lead in advanced military and dual-use technologies, emphasizing areas where its advantages are strongest. These areas include undersea, space, and nuclear domains, as well as future military power sectors such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing, autonomous systems, and the energy required to power these domains.”

A key component of Trump’s broader national defense policy is the construction of the “Golden Dome” missile defense shield. This project is expected to be a central topic at the 2025 Space Power Conference, with senior military leaders involved in key aspects of the project participating.

For months, speculation has circulated about the technology involved, particularly whether it is space-based or more focused on conventional ground-based missile interception systems.

General Michael A. Guttlin, Deputy Chief of Space Operations for the U.S. Space Force and government representative for the Golden Dome project, recently provided insights at the Reagan National Defense Forum in California, stating that the system will integrate existing ground-based missile defense assets with forward-looking space assets, including potential space-based missile interceptors.

He added that the defense shield is expected to be operational by mid-2028.