U.S. Air Force Secretary Troy Meink recently confirmed something important.

The United States has deployed weapons in space.

He did not say what these weapons are or how they work.

He also did not say if they target other objects in space.

Details about space weapons are limited for other countries too.

The 2026 Global Counterspace Capabilities Report comes from the nonprofit Secure World Foundation.

It gives an overview based on public information.

It lists five categories of counterspace capabilities.

It examines systems from 13 countries, including the U.S., Russia, China, India, Australia, France, Iran, and Israel.

These include satellites that can move near other spacecraft.

They can inspect, disable, or destroy them.

They also include missiles launched from ground, air, or sea that destroy satellites.

The report also covers electronic warfare such as jamming.

It covers lasers and high-power microwaves that can blind or damage satellite sensors.

It also covers cyber operations against space networks.

Victoria Samson is from the Secure World Foundation.

She said the existence and location of satellites in orbit is fairly clear.

But their capabilities and intended uses are harder to understand.

A U.N. register links each object to a responsible country.

However, states are not required to give details on an object's purpose.

In 2021, China tested a satellite with a robotic arm.

It can grab a system and move it out of orbit.

In 2022, China used such a system to tow one of its dead satellites out of orbit.

Two years ago, the U.S. warned that Russia was developing a new space-based anti-satellite weapon.

The White House said the danger was not imminent.

Russia denied developing such a capability.

The Outer Space Treaty was concluded in 1967.

It bans placing nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction in orbit.

Analysts say it does not address some modern challenges.

Jessica West of Project Ploughshares said the legal framework needs to be "fundamentally changed."

Michelle Hanlon of the University of Mississippi School of Law said there is a "gap" in the treaty on conventional weapons.

Samson said talks on a new framework have stalled.

There is no agreement on what counts as a space weapon.

Many capabilities are "dual use."