The United States has acknowledged a development that could prove more consequential than the identity of the weapon involved: it has deployed a weapon in orbit. Washington has offered few details, but the announcement signals that the militarisation of space has entered a more explicit and dangerous phase. For decades, satellites were the invisible infrastructure behind modern warfare.

They enabled secure communications, navigation, intelligence gathering, missile warning and precision targeting. Space was therefore indispensable to military power, but largely as a supporting theatre. The emerging reality is different. Satellites are increasingly becoming both the instruments of war and potential targets. The distinction matters because space warfare does not necessarily begin with explosions. An electronic-warfare satellite capable of jamming communications could disable an adversary without destroying anything. A spacecraft capable of approaching, grappling or manoeuvring another satellite could potentially perform legitimate maintenance or remove debris ~ or interfere with an enemy’s systems.

More destructive anti-satellite weapons could physically destroy........

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