--- title: "Space Force Chief Admits the US Is Actively Utilizing Orbital Weapons" description: "An announcement that the US has active weapons platforms in orbit has come as the Space Force seeks a $71 billion budget hike." date: "2026-09-16" modified: "2026-09-16" authors: - name: "Joe Wilkins" job_title: "Correspondent" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jwilkins.md" url: "https://futurism.com/science-energy/space-force-chief-pentagon-orbital-weapons-budget" categories: - "Military" - "Science & Energy" - "Space" - "Space Force" --- # Space Force Chief Admits the US Is Actively Utilizing Orbital Weapons ![A photo illustration of a satellite with crosshairs.]() *Shutterstock / Futurism* Since the debut of Garrett P Serviss' 1898 novel "Edison's Conquest of Mars," space-based warfare was relegated to the imagination — but no longer. In an address on the "State of the Space Force" on Tuesday, reported [by *Space.com*](), chief of space operations for the US Space Force General Douglas Schiess informed the public that the Pentagon has definitively deployed active space-based weapons platforms. "Let me be crystal clear: today, Guardians operate on-orbit weapons that can defend the joint force against space-enabled attacks," Schiess said. "Space is both a battlefield and the backbone of our joint force." Schiess stopped short of providing any details about the weapons, instead sharing a war story of one Space Force operator named "Specialist Gray." "Even as alarm red sirens were blaring and incoming missiles targeted her site, she courageously held the line, protecting forces, denying adversary capability, and delivering space effects until her commander had to literally pull her from the console to safety," Schiess recounted with a dramatic flair. "She locked onto the target, optimized her weapon system and waged electromagnetic warfare against a determined adversary." As *Space.com* notes, those descriptive elements may point to a kind of non-physical platform, like a signal jammer or a microwave emitter, though it's anyone's guess what weapon "Specialist Gray" was supposed to be operating. The news came just ahead of the Space Force's request for over $71 billion in additional funding for 2027, adding to the over $100 billion it's already been allocated, independent journalist [Ken Klippenstein reported](). Evidently, the orbital-weapons announcement was meant to give that absurd request some extra oomph — which, if granted, it would represent the single highest one-year budget adjustment received by any US military branch [since 1952](). **More on space:** *[NASA's Powerful New Space Telescope, Just Cleared for Launch, Was Developed by an Intelligence Agency to "Spy on America's Adversaries"]()* ## Author At Futurism, I focus on the intersection of technology and power — examining the economics, history, and politics behind today’s dystopian headlines. As a writer, I’m interested in topics ranging from AI’s impact on labor to startups nobody asked for. My prior work includes bylines in Jacobin, Verso, and Blue Labyrinths. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Forbes, The Guardian, MIT Technology Review, Time, The Nation, Mother Jones, The Verge, and Wired. I grew up in Michigan, attending Central Michigan University as well as Ball State University, where I earned a master of music. I now live in Brooklyn with my girlfriend and our cat Ziti. On weekends, you can find me hunched over a cold pint arguing geopolitics with the other transplants. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()