The nominee for the U.S. deputy defense chief said on Tuesday that North Korea and Iran have shown capabilities posing some threat to U.S. military power using spaced-based services. 

Deputy Defense Secretary-nominee Kathleen Hicks issued the position on Tuesday in a written response prepared for her Senate confirmation hearing.

Hicks said that the development of Chinese and Russian space weapons pose the most urgent and serious threat to the space activities of the U.S. and its allies and partners. 
 
The nominee also said that the United States' missile defense system provides deterrence against "limited" nuclear attacks from countries such as North Korea.

Hicks said that the relationship between U.S. missile defense and the U.S. nuclear arsenal is complementary. 

She added that both capabilities contribute to deterring an attack against the U.S., with U.S. nuclear weapons presenting a credible threat of retaliation and U.S. missile defense aimed at deterring a limited nuclear attack from North Korea or Iran.