ICBMs can do that too; the MIRV capable ones carry enough delta-V when stripped to a single warhead for orbital insertion and ejection, albeit on crappy traject

ICBMs can do that too; the MIRV capable ones carry enough delta-V when stripped to a single warhead for orbital insertion and ejection, albeit on crappy trajectories. That's why you can repurpose them for generic satellite launches. Parking a nuke in orbit violates the Outer Space Treaty though so countries don't (publicly) do it. The thing with a shuttle is it's easier to stealthily violate the treaty than launching a bunch of suspiciously poorly built cylindrical tubes and calling them defunct space telescopes.