Space-based missiles, killer robots part of U.S. effort to obtain orbital dominance
By Bill Gertz – The Washington Times – Wednesday, February 11, 2026
The U.S. Space Force is accelerating the deployment of counterspace weapons under a new Trump administration policy aimed at reasserting and ensuring American dominance over China and Russia in any potential orbital conflict.
The force is deploying three electronic satellite jammers and racing to match the more advanced space forces of China and Russia, which include arsenals of anti-satellite weapons.
Space Force Gen. B. Chance Saltzman, chief of space operations, said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth recently set the goal for the U.S. military to dominate in space.
“And the Space Force was created to do just that,” Gen. Saltzman told The Washington Times. “The service has and will continue to invest in a full range of counterspace capabilities to deter conflict in space and to win decisively if called upon.
“Continuing to train and equip combat-credible Guardians is essential to maintaining our warfighting readiness,” he said.
Mr. Hegseth said in a speech to workers at the space company Blue Origin last week that the $25 billion being spent on the Golden Dome national missile and drone defense system would produce “cutting-edge, space-based capabilities which we are going to need.”
Advanced satellite sensors capable of spotting and targeting enemy missiles launched from any location on the planet are under development, he said.
Those will be paired with space-based interceptors capable of neutralizing “any ballistic missiles, any hypersonic weapon, any drone long before it threatens our homeland,” Mr. Hegseth said.
“That is how we will establish total orbital supremacy,” he said.
Golden Dome systems are expected to support Space Force counterspace arms.
A Space Force spokeswoman declined to provide details on Gen. Saltzman’s plans for counterspace weapons, but at this point, the newest branch of the American military — the force was founded in 2019 under the first Trump administration — has only limited capabilities with counterspace systems. The force will be challenged to match enemy systems.
Precarious position
The current suite of U.S. space weapons includes the first deployed system, the Counter Communications System, an electronic jammer operational since 2020 that can temporarily disrupt Chinese and Russian satellite communications.
Two electronic jammers are being added: the Meadowlands and the Remote Modular Terminal.
The Space Force said the Meadowlands, produced by L3Harris Technologies Inc., is undergoing late-stage training and live-fire exercises. It is set for deployment this year.
The system is a lighter and more compact variant of the Counter Communications System and is described as a tactical electronic warfare weapon.
The Remote Modular Terminal, made by Northstrat Inc. and CACI International Inc., is in a limited early-use phase — capable of being fired while undergoing testing.
The Space Force plans to buy 32 Meadowlands and 24 Remote Modular Terminal systems, said Bloomberg News, which first reported the two new jammers.
Funding for counterspace weapons in the recently passed $890.6 billion defense authorization bill is relatively meager and does not appear to support a space dominance policy.
Procurement for counterspace weapons in the current fiscal year is $2 million, and the research, development, testing and evaluation budget for counterspace systems spending is $31.2 million, according to a funding chart in the defense authorization act.
Developing space weapons is a priority for the Pentagon because U.S. space systems, including high-altitude Global Positioning System satellites — used for GPS targeting and navigation in military operations, missile warning satellites and key imagery and communications systems — were not designed for conflict in space.
A Pentagon official said a presidential directive requires U.S. space superiority and therefore “American leadership in space is nonnegotiable.”
Access to space is a vital national interest and space is central to the National Defense Strategy’s priority mission of defending the homeland and deterring China, the official said.
“China and Russia know this and are fielding and operating satellite systems and space control weapons designed to undermine our strategic advantages in the domain, contest our freedom of action, jeopardize military forces and operations, and hold the homeland at risk,” the official said.
“The Department of War has and will continue to invest in a full range of capabilities — kinetic, non-kinetic, reversible and irreversible — to restore deterrence and, if necessary, prevail in conflict.”
Space Force leaders recognize that the once nonthreatening space environment is now a warfighting domain for the U.S., China and Russia.
Most current satellites are vulnerable to enemy jamming, lasers, maneuvering killer robot satellites, anti-satellite missiles and cyberattacks.
Lt. Gen. Scott Berrier, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, warned Congress in 2022 about U.S. satellite vulnerabilities.
“The loss of space-based communication and navigation services could have a devastating impact on warfighters during a conflict. That’s one of the most serious scenarios anticipated,” he said.
