USSPACECOM commander: Space weapons key to maintaining deterrence

Sentry Staff

The commander of the United States Space Command (USSPACECOM) says space weapons are crucial to maintaining deterrence and stability, as strategic competitors develop their own capabilities.

“Our opponents, most notably China, have accelerated the terrestrial and on-orbit space weapons, expanded their space-enabled kill chains, and are moving at breathtaking speed,” Gen. Stephen Whiting said during the April 2025 Space Symposium in Colorado. The annual symposium brings together government and industry leaders to explore aerospace technologies.

Whiting said the U.S. needs space weapons to deter conflict by preventing adversaries from getting an upper hand. “There has never been a war in space, and we don’t want a war to start in space or extend into space, and war in space is not inevitable,” he said. However, “there is no longer any debate that space is a war-fighting domain.”

U.S. leaders have largely refrained from pursuing space weapons. However, the Chinese Communist Party’s weapons buildup and reports that Russia is developing a satellite designed to carry a nuclear weapon have changed the geopolitical landscape.

“Our opponents have upped their game, so have we,” Whiting said. “We are a combatant command and, like all other combatant commands, we must be dominant at war fighting and war winning.”

Space weapons are generally divided into three categories: Earth-to-space, space-to-space and space-to-Earth systems. Weapons systems may have kinetic (missiles, bullets) and nonkinetic (radiation, electricity) capabilities. China, India, Russia and the U.S. have tested Earth-to-space weapons, according to the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation.

Whiting noted five key elements to win a war in space, based on “lessons learned in other domains, from the best thinking across our joint force exercises and modeling and simulation.” They are:

• Operate after a first strike.
• Transition from crisis to conflict.
• Synchronize and integrate joint, commercial, Allied and Partner capabilities.
• Sustain and bolster space capabilities beyond initial stages of conflict.
• Achieve space superiority.

“Weapons in space used to be considered inconceivable, but now space-based interceptors are a key component of how we win,” Whiting said, according to a transcript of his keynote address. “Dominant war fighting in space requires credible, acknowledged, kinetic and nonkinetic capabilities, fires and weapons.”

The U.S. is pursuing capabilities including maneuverable satellites, advanced surveillance tools, and on-orbit defensive and offensive systems.

One big push is to develop sustained space maneuver (SSM), the ability to move satellites without fear of losing fuel or mission time to maintain an advantage in a dynamic environment. SpaceWERX, the innovation arm of the U.S. Space Force, launched a program with USSPACECOM to procure technology and capabilities to enable SSM, including on-orbit servicing, space domain awareness, refueling, payload support and maneuver optimization. The partnership will award 10 companies $2 million each during the next 15 months to develop the capabilities, Whiting said.

“To be successful, our sustainment activities must be robust in space and also right here on [Earth] to ensure the survivability and resilience throughout every phase of conflict,” he said. “Sustaining until the mission is complete is essential to our success.”

Sentry is a professional military magazine published by U.S. Strategic Command to provide a forum for national security personnel.