Joint Chiefs chairman says US forces must prepare for war in cislunar space
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Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine said U.S. forces must be ready to fight from the seabed to cislunar space, including possibly on the moon. He made the remarks at the Air, Space, and Cyber Conference on September 16, 2026. The statement comes as military leaders still debate legal frameworks for orbital weapons.
Key Facts
- Gen. Dan Caine told the Air, Space, and Cyber Conference that the Joint Force must be prepared to fight 'from the seabed to cislunar space.'
- The White House's National Cislunar Science and Technology Action Plan explicitly includes the lunar surface in its definition of cislunar space.
- The Outer Space Treaty of 1967, signed by the U.S., forbids military bases, weapons testing, and military maneuvers on celestial bodies.
- China operates a relay satellite in cislunar space and has conducted robotic missions on the far side of the moon.
Cislunar Warfighting
Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told airmen, guardians, and industry figures that U.S. forces must adapt to fight 'in global contested environments, from the seabed to cislunar space.' Caine repeated the phrase 'today's modern battlefield operates from the seabed to cislunar space' but did not clarify whether he meant combat on the moon's surface. U.S. law defines cislunar space as 'the region of space from the Earth out to and including the region around the surface of the moon,' a definition that remains ambiguous. The White House's National Cislunar Science and Technology Action Plan explicitly stated in late 2024 that cislunar space includes the lunar surface.
Legal Ambiguity
The Air Force Research Laboratory's 2021 'Primer on Cislunar Space' appears to treat space and the moon's surface as two different domains. At least one Harvard Law Journal article interprets the legal definition of cislunar space to include the moon itself. The Outer Space Treaty of 1967, which the U.S. signed, outlaws military bases, weapons testing, and military maneuvers on celestial bodies. Space Force Lt. Gen. [name omitted in source] has not provided details on how U.S. forces would operate in cislunar space or use space weapons responsibly.
China's Lunar Activity
Top Space Force officials have been vocal about adding sensors and capabilities to watch adversary movements in cislunar space. Aaron Brynildson, a space law professor at the University of Mississippi, said there is a fear that recent Chinese activity on the moon and in cislunar space might outpace the United States. China has a relay satellite in cislunar space and is performing robotic missions on the far side of the moon.
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