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Countries that have that capability can't shoot down 40000 of them.

by enkid 6y ago

throw1234651234 6y ago
If this becomes a thing, they will put a laser on a satellite and call it a day. All of the big 3 (military, not economically, you know who I am talking about) can do this easily. edit: In response to below - they are putting SHORAD lasers on Strykers soon. Things have become a lot more compact.
- est31 6y ago
  High powered lasers on an aircraft carrier work because it has a nuclear power plant onboard. How will you launch a nuclear power plant into space? Note that the response to star wars contributed to the Soviet Union's bankruptcy :).
  - Enginerrrd 6y ago
    Depends on duty cycle. It may only need enough power for a couple of big bursts. Chemical lasers might work quite well here if you can address temperature fluctuation issues. The power output can be sufficiently massive with a relatively compact storage of that power. The downside is just that they can't be easily recharged.
  - ClumsyPilot 6y ago
    Soviet union had nuclear powered radar sattelites for reconnaissance, with a real reactor onboard, not RTG. it's definately doable. But the whole point of a laser is that you don't need to put it in space, it could be a large facility on the ground. Main considerations are political impact, not technical feasability. As for Soviet bancrupcy, impact of Chernobyl was definately much larger than space program shenanigans.
sergeykish 6y ago
A few hits would provide enough junk for runaway process https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kessler_syndrome https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kessler_syndrome
- marvin 6y ago
  I don't think a country with space capability is seriously considering making orbit useless over censorship. That'd be like shooting yourself in the foot right after you've trained for a marathon, in order to ingratiate yourself with firearms manufacturers.
  - sergeykish 6y ago
    And private company would not consider such risk either. Like with nuclear weapon ability to shoot is enough. Funny how it works with s/country/private company/ s/space/nuclear/, s/orbit/land/

Countries that have that capability can't shoot down 40000 of them.

by enkid 6y ago

Countries that have that capability can't shoot down 40000 of them.

If this becomes a thing, they will put a laser on a satellite and call it a day. All of the big 3 (military, not economically, you know who I am talking about) can do this easily. edit: In response to below - they are putting SHORAD lasers on Strykers soon. Things have become a lot more compact.

est31 6y ago
High powered lasers on an aircraft carrier work because it has a nuclear power plant onboard. How will you launch a nuclear power plant into space? Note that the response to star wars contributed to the Soviet Union's bankruptcy :).
- Enginerrrd 6y ago
  Depends on duty cycle. It may only need enough power for a couple of big bursts. Chemical lasers might work quite well here if you can address temperature fluctuation issues. The power output can be sufficiently massive with a relatively compact storage of that power. The downside is just that they can't be easily recharged.
- ClumsyPilot 6y ago
  Soviet union had nuclear powered radar sattelites for reconnaissance, with a real reactor onboard, not RTG. it's definately doable. But the whole point of a laser is that you don't need to put it in space, it could be a large facility on the ground. Main considerations are political impact, not technical feasability. As for Soviet bancrupcy, impact of Chernobyl was definately much larger than space program shenanigans.

sergeykish 6y ago

A few hits would provide enough junk for runaway process https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kessler_syndrome https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kessler_syndrome

marvin 6y ago
I don't think a country with space capability is seriously considering making orbit useless over censorship. That'd be like shooting yourself in the foot right after you've trained for a marathon, in order to ingratiate yourself with firearms manufacturers.
- sergeykish 6y ago
  And private company would not consider such risk either. Like with nuclear weapon ability to shoot is enough. Funny how it works with s/country/private company/ s/space/nuclear/, s/orbit/land/