Sipping iced coffee at a roadside stall, I caught a news alert on my phone: the US has finally admitted to deploying weapons in Earth's orbit. Anyone following military stuff knew this secret would come out eventually, but coming right out and showing their hand like this turns up the heat fast. If the folks in the neighborhood find out, they will definitely be shaking their heads about how crazy the world is getting.
As soon as the news dropped, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs stepped up to warn Washington not to turn a peaceful space into a battlefield, or kick off a space arms race. Russia didn't sit quietly either. Kremlin officials called on the international community to push together and scrub all weapons from orbit before the fires of war spread to the skies above our heads.
According to the US Space Force, these orbital weapons are just there to protect their own assets and guard against dirty tricks by enemies. But sitting here in the thick smell of motorcycle exhaust, everyday life is about the price of rice and oil. No matter how hard the big powers fight it out up in the heavens, ordinary people just want peace down on the ground, so we never have to look up at the stars and feel scared.
