Space weapon Space weapons are weapon s used in space warfare . They include weapons that can attack space systems in orbit ( i . e . anti - satellite weapon s ) , attack targets on the earth from space or disable missiles travelling through space . In the course of the militarisation of space , such weapons were developed mainly by the contesting superpowers during the Cold War , and some remain under development today . Space weapons are also a central theme in military science fiction and sci - fi video games . Space - to - space weapons . The Soviet Almaz secret military space station program was equipped with a fixed 23mm autocannon to prevent hostile interception or boarding by hostile forces . The Soviet unmanned Polyus weapons platform was designed to be equipped with a megawatt carbon - dioxide laser . Earth - to - space weapons . Anti - satellite weapon s , which are primarily surface - to - space and air - to - space missiles , have been developed by the United States , the USSR / Russia , and the People ' s Republic of China . Some test firings have been successful in destroying orbiting satellites . In general use of explosive and kinetic kill systems is limited to relatively low altitude due to space debris issues and so as to avoid triggering the Kessler syndrome . Strategic Defense Initiative . On March 23 , 1983 , President Ronald Reagan proposed the Strategic Defense Initiative , a research program with a goal of developing a defensive system which would destroy enemy ICBMs . The defensive system was nicknamed Star Wars , after the movie , by its detractors . Some concepts of the system included Brilliant Pebbles , which were Kinetic Kill Vehicles , essentially small rockets launched from satellites toward their targets ( a warhead , warhead bus , or even an upper stage of an ICBM ) . Other aspects included satellites in orbit carrying powerful lasers or particle beam s . When a missile launch was detected , the satellite would fire at the missile ( or warheads ) and destroy it . Although no real hardware was ever manufactured for deployment ( according to public knowledge ) , today the military is testing the use of lasers mounted on Boeing 747 s to destroy missiles . The tests are taking place at Edwards Air Force Base . Space - to - Earth weapons . Orbital weaponry . Orbital weaponry is any weapon that is in orbit around a large body such as a planet or moon . As of 2012 , there are no known operative orbital weapons systems , but several were designed by the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War . During World War II Nazi Germany also was developing plans for an orbital weapon called the Sun gun . Development of orbital weaponry was largely halted after the entry into force of the Outer Space Treaty and the SALT II treaty . These agreements prohibit weapons of mass destruction from being placed in space . As other weapons exist , notably those using kinetic bombardment , that would not violate these treaties , some private groups and government officials have proposed a Space Preservation Treaty which would ban the placement of any weaponry in outer space . Orbital bombardment . Orbital bombardment is the act of attacking targets on a planet , moon or other such object from " orbit " around the object , rather than from an aircraft , or a platform beyond orbit . It is most often encountered in fiction , but has been proposed as a means of attack for several real - world weapons systems concepts , including kinetic bombardment and as a nuclear delivery system . During the Cold War , the Soviet Union deployed a Fractional Orbital Bombardment System from 1968 to 1983 . Using this system , a nuclear warhead could be placed in low Earth orbit , and later de - orbited to hit any location on the Earth ' s surface . While the Soviet Union deployed a working version of the system , they were forbidden by the Outer Space Treaty to place live warheads in space . The fractional orbital bombardment system was phased out in January 1983 in compliance with the SALT II treaty of 1979 , which , among other things , prohibited the deployment of systems capable of placing weapons of mass destruction in such a partial orbit . Various classified satellite launches in the United States are believed to have launched weaponized satellites into orbit , including space - to - earth lasers , utilizing technology similar to what NASA is prototyping . ( See http : / / www . nasa . gov / content / space - laser - to - prove - increased - broadband - possible / and http : / / www . f - 16 . net / f - 16 _ forum _ viewtopic - t - 20618 . html ) Orbital bombardment systems with conventional warheads are permitted under the terms of SALT II . Some of the proposed systems rely on large tungsten carbide / uranium cermet rods dropped from orbit and depend on kinetic energy , rather than explosives , but their mass makes them prohibitively difficult to transport to orbit , and their effectiveness has not been proven . In fiction . Fictional or real space weapons in various forms are often prominently featured in science fiction , particularly in military science fiction and in video games with a sci - fi theme .