The United States is going full steam ahead with plans to develop its extraterrestrial military deterrent, as it prepares for future space wars with Russia and China.
Former President Donald Trump set up the US Space Force in 2019, shortly before he was replaced by Joe Biden.
The specialist organisation is now seeking to move into an active operational phase, having spent the last five years “establishing” itself.
US military chiefs are hoping for closer cooperation with the UK, after making a visit to London last week.
During a press conference at the US Embassy on Friday, they warned that space was rapidly being militarised and that the West needed to be ready to face the growing threat.
Lieutenant General David N. Miller said: “Increasingly the character of warfare that includes space as an operational domain for war-fighting is becoming more and more apparent to everyone.
“In order to compete in today’s environment, deter conflict and prevail, we’re going to have to take similar approaches to developing, generating and fielding capability.”
The US has been monitoring Russia’s space programme, and has long suspected that Putin is seeking to up the military stakes in this new frontier.
In May, White House officials accused Moscow of launching a counter space weapon capable of taking out satellites.
They also claimed the Kremlin had done this twice before and was particularly concerned by tests of Russia’s anti-satellite missile, as well as China’s Fractional Orbital Bombardment System in 2021.
“The risk is higher. You have to be ready for it,” Lieutenant Genera Miller said.
“We’ve got to provide a full spectrum deterrent and that means that they’ve got to know that we will have a response to any threat vector that they provide to us.”
The UK is also stepping up its efforts to combat the increasing threat from so-called space warfare.
Earlier in August, the government gave the go-ahead for the construction of a radar base in Wales.
The Deep Space Advanced Radar Capability (Darc) will be developed at Cawdor barracks in south-west Wales by the Ministry of Defence.
The site will house 27 radar dishes measuring 20 metres high that will track deep space activity to help protect the UK from “space warfare”.
The radars, which can track objects as small as a football, are part of a network planned around the globe.
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