The U.S. has confirmed the existence of space weapons for the first time. Which companies stand to benefit from this?

The development of space weapons could become a new source of growth for defense contractors and space companies, according to Rob Stallard, an analyst at Vertical Research Partners, as reported by Barron’s.

The U.S. has deployed weapons in space and will use them to protect American forces, Air Force Secretary Troy Maink said Monday. This is the first public acknowledgment of the existence of “space-based space control assets,” CNN notes.

Specific details about the type and capabilities of this weapon system remain classified. Maink said only that it involves “kinetic and non-kinetic means of affecting the enemy’s capabilities—ranging from disruption and degradation to destruction, if necessary.”

Stallard described the potential scope of such systems as follows: “that is, everything from electronic warfare to the Death Star.”

The emergence of space-based weapons opens up opportunities for a wide range of companies, according to Barron’s. Traditional defense contractors such as aircraft manufacturers Boeing, Northrop Grumman, and Lockheed Martin, as well as L3Harris Technologies, RTX, and BAE Systems, are already active in this field, so the continued development of space-based weapons could become an additional source of growth for their businesses.

Among potential beneficiaries from the space industry itself, Barron’s named HawkEye 360, Planet Labs, and Voyager Technologies, which are developing defense-related projects. Companies that provide access to space, including Rocket Lab and Firefly Aerospace, could also benefit.

That said, in the case of SpaceX—which is the largest company in the space launch market and provides the U.S. military with services for putting cargo into orbit and communications—there are more doubts: its defense business remains small compared to its capabilities in the field of AI, according to Barron’s.

Meinke's statement has not yet had a noticeable impact on stock prices, although the publication predicts that, in the long term, the development of space weapons could significantly affect the defense sector.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor