The Space Force added a new weapon to its arsenal, a device designed to blast electromagnetic beams to silence adversary satellites in space.
The Meadowlands Counter Communications System, developed by L3Harris Technologies, was added to the military branch’s fleet of electromagnetic warfare systems on June 8, the Space Force recently announced. The device is able to “detect, deny, disrupt, and degrade adversary capabilities in active defense of joint force objectives,” to create a so-called silence zone, according to the Space Force.
The recent acquisition highlights the U.S. military’s focus on space-based warfare, heavily investing in the Space Force’s capabilities to be able to counter enemies in orbit.
Space jam
Meadowlands is an antenna dish mounted on top of a wheeled trailer and is designed to be loaded on board a large transporter aircraft. It’s an upgraded, more compact version of the Space Force’s Counter Communications System (CCS) Block 10.2, a deployable, ground-based system designed to cut off communications from satellites.
The new anti-satellite system beams electromagnetic radiation, targeting adversary spacecraft by blasting their uplink and downlink signals to essentially silence them. Meadowlands’ counter-signal is designed to be aimed directly at an adversarial satellite’s receiving antenna. As a result, the targeted satellite would not be able to receive commands or process critical telemetry, which would interfere with its basic functions and disrupt its hardware and software operations.
Other anti-satellite weapons are designed to inflict physical damage on their target, using kinetic impact to collide with a satellite in space. This creates massive clouds of debris and adds to the already growing problem of space junk. In 2022, the U.S. adopted a self-imposed ban on anti-satellite tests, encouraging other nations to do the same.
The Space Force’s new system creates “reversible” effects, interfering with a satellite’s software without creating a cloud of debris.
Orbital warfare
In its statement, the Space Force referenced Operation Midnight Hammer, in which the U.S. military attacked three nuclear facilities in Iran on June 22, 2025. According to the Space Force, electromagnetic warfare systems, like Meadowlands, were used to create a silence zone to halt enemy communications in the joint force operation.
“Our Guardians are at the forefront of joint operations, so we are fielding capability that best enables their success and the success of the joint force,” U.S. Space Force Col. Angelo Fernandez, commander of Mission Delta 3 – Space Electromagnetic Warfare, said in a statement. “We’re continuously pursuing capability modifications to modernize our fleet and better enable our Guardians as they execute missions on behalf of the combatant command and in support of U.S. objectives.”
As satellite communication systems become a vital part of the modern battlefield, so will anti-satellite weapons. Just last month, the Space Force executed a simulated orbital threat scenario, launching a satellite on short notice to intercept another as a response to urgent threats in space.
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