US acknowledges it has sent weapons to space

… "><meta property="og:image:type" content="image/jpeg"><meta property="og:image:alt" content="Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink speaks during the United States Air Force Academy Graduation Ceremony at Falcon Stadium, Thursday, May 28, 2026, at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, Pool, File)"><meta property="og:description" content="The U.S. has confirmed for the first time that it has deployed weapons in space. Air Force Secretary Troy Meink told a conference Monday that the U.S. has fielded “on-orbit space control weapons” that are capable of defending against hostile action."><meta property="og:site_name" content="AP News"><meta property="og:type" content="article"><meta property="article:author" content="https://apnews.com/author/mike-catalini"><meta property="article:published_time" content="2026-09-15T12:16:26"><meta property="article:modified_time" content="2026-09-15T12:16:42.377"><meta property="article:section" content="Politics"><meta property="article:tag" content="General news"><meta property="article:tag" content="Troy Meink"><meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image"><meta name="twitter:creator" content="@mikecatalini"><meta name="twitter:description" content="The U.S. has confirmed for the first time that it has deployed weapons in space. Air Force Secretary Troy Meink told a conference Monday that the U.S. has fielded “on-orbit space control weapons” that are capable of defending against hostile action."><meta name="twitter:image" content="https://dims.apnews.com/dims4/default/9c04d39/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2626x1750+0+1/resize/980x653!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.apnews.com%2Fc7%2F51%2Fc8f1c979d74e1ba2c30b49973f87%2Fdb32a6177e4e402699e559aa84489c48"><meta name="twitter:image:alt" content="Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink speaks during the United States Air Force Academy Graduation Ceremony at Falcon Stadium, Thursday, May 28, 2026, at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, Pool, File)"><meta name="twitter:site" content="@AP"><meta name="twitter:title" content="US acknowledges for the first time that it has deployed weapons in space"><meta property="fb:app_id" content="870613919693099"><meta name="ntv-kv" key="content" values="Generalnews,TroyMeink,Spacelaunches,DistrictofColumbia,Washingtonnews,Militaryanddefense,U.S.news,DonaldTrump,WashingtonNews,U.S.News"><meta data-rh="true" name="keywords" content="General news, Troy Meink, Space launches, District of Columbia, Washington news, Military and defense, U.S. news, Donald Trump, Washington News, U.S. News"><meta name="robots" content="max-image-preview:large,noarchive"><meta name="apple-itunes-app" content="app-id=364677107, app-argument=https://apnews.com/article/space-weapons-air-force-5a2a0ada771daaf4fbef0991d8c09259"><meta name="mdThumbnail" content="https://dims.apnews.com/dims4/default/ab49ab3/2147483647/strip/false/crop/2626x1751+0+0/resize/690x460!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.apnews.com%2Fc7%2F51%2Fc8f1c979d74e1ba2c30b49973f87%2Fdb32a6177e4e402699e559aa84489c48"><meta name="parsely-title" content="US acknowledges for the first time that it has deployed weapons in space"><style>:root { …