The Pentagon declined to describe the weapons or when they were deployed, while the 1967 Outer Space Treaty signed by all three countries only prohibits weapons of mass destruction in orbit.
On Sept. 15, Air Force Secretary Troy Meink confirmed that the U.S. had deployed its first armed space-control satellites in orbit.
Earlier anti-satellite missile tests by both nations
- China destroyed its Feng Yun-1C weather satellite at an altitude over 500 miles in 2007.
- Russia destroyed a Soviet-era satellite in orbit using a ground-based missile in 2021.