NEW YORK, February 24. /TASS/. Outer space will be the most decisive battlefield for the coming centuries, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth opined.

"For generations the battle was fought on land, in the air and sub-sea, but today the ultimate high ground, the single most decisive battlefield of this century and the centuries to come is hundreds of miles above our heads. Make no mistake, the fight for space is the fight for the future of the world as we know it," he said during a Colorado visit.

Hegseth also stated that the United States "cannot afford to have a fair fight in space" and that Washington would require American space dominance. "I’m not interested in orbital equity or orbital parity, we want and we demand orbital and American dominance," he emphasized.