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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Science
Ian Sample Science editor

US ‘ready to fight in space if we have to’, says military official

An Iranian satellite launched by Russia lifts off from Baikonur in Kazakhstan in August amid controversy Moscow could use it for Ukraine surveillance.
An Iranian satellite launched by Russia lifts off from Baikonur in Kazakhstan in August amid controversy Moscow could use it for Ukraine surveillance. Photograph: Yuri Kadobnov/AFP/Getty

The US is ready for conflict in outer space, according to a senior military official, after developing anti-satellite technologies to counter the threats posed by “provocative” countries such as Russia and China.

Brig Gen Jesse Morehouse at US Space Command, the arm of the military responsible for space operations, said Russian aggression and China’s vision to become the dominant space power by mid-century, had left the US with “no choice” but to prepare for orbital skirmishes.

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