The US military is preparing for a future in which battles could extend beyond Earth’s orbit and into the region around the Moon, as Washington steps up its focus on space warfare.
The US Space Force, created under US President Donald Trump in 2019, is already preparing for potential operations around the Moon.
General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the US military must adapt now to be ready for combat in an increasingly contested space environment. Speaking at the Air, Space and Cyber Conference outside Washington on Wednesday, Caine said US forces should be prepared to “fight, endure and win … from the seabed to cislunar space”. Lt Gen Gregory Gagnon, who heads the Space Force’s combat forces command, said the service has to prepare for the changing nature of warfare as human activity moves deeper into space. The Space Force has said potential adversaries could seek to turn space into a battlefield. Gagnon said the US intelligence community had warned that potential adversaries were looking to expand military operations into space. Asked about Washington’s disclosure that it had deployed weapons in space, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said Beijing opposed turning outer space into another arena for military competition.
