Are you worried about the US deploying weapons in space?

For years, the idea of nuclear weapons in space sounded more like science fiction than a realistic threat. That changed Monday (Sept. 14), when U.S. Air Force Secretary Troy Meink announced at the Air, Space and Cyber Conference in Maryland that the U.S. had deployed “on-orbit space control weapons capable of defending the Joint Force against hostile adversary action.”

While the officials have not said that these weapons are nuclear, the announcement has raised a question: If countries are now openly putting weapons in space, how far away are we from a future where nuclear weapons become part of that competition?