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> I wonder if any of the "in-silo, ready to launch at a moment's notice" ballistic missile platforms could be repurposed to carry a bunch of communications sate

> I wonder if any of the "in-silo, ready to launch at a moment's notice" ballistic missile platforms could be repurposed to carry a bunch of communications satellites. That's basically what the Minotaur rockets are. > The Minotaur I and II are derived from the Minuteman missile, while the Minotaur III, IV and V are derived from the Peacekeeper. [1] It's not quite the same thing as repurposing the actual ICBMs in the silos, but the parts commonality is quite high. In a true emergency, they may even be able to convert ICBMs, although it seems unlikely that there would be an emergency so urgent that ICMBs would need to be converted into satellite launch vehicles, but not so urgent that the ICMBs wouldn't be used for the intended purpose. ___ 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minotaur_(rocket_family) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minotaur_(rocket_family)

cdirkx 6y ago
> although it seems unlikely that there would be an emergency so urgent that ICMBs would need to be converted into satellite launch vehicles, but not so urgent that the ICMBs wouldn't be used for the intended purpose Maybe an extreme solar storm or super nova.
- nordsieck 6y ago
  > Maybe an extreme solar storm or super nova. Could be. I don't know how long it takes to build a Minotaur rocket. I know most of the traditional launch providers (ULA, ESA, etc.) have pretty long lead times for rocket launches, but some of the newer ones are actually quite quick. Rocketlabs is making good progress towards making a new rocket in a week (they can already make one in less than a month). SpaceX probably takes longer to build a complete rocket, but 1. They have a stock of existing first stages since they reuse their rockets 2. They probably have a stock of in production second stages and fairings since they are trying to do a Starlink launches every 2 weeks or so. I'm not saying you're wrong. Just that we'd need to launch a lot of satellites pretty urgently for that to make sense.
- dogma1138 6y ago
  There isn’t a star close enough to go nova and have any affect on us, well other than the Sun and if it goes nova there won’t be anyone left to launch anything since it will vaporize the oceans and strip off the atmosphere.

cdirkx 6y ago

> although it seems unlikely that there would be an emergency so urgent that ICMBs would need to be converted into satellite launch vehicles, but not so urgent that the ICMBs wouldn't be used for the intended purpose Maybe an extreme solar storm or super nova.

nordsieck 6y ago
> Maybe an extreme solar storm or super nova. Could be. I don't know how long it takes to build a Minotaur rocket. I know most of the traditional launch providers (ULA, ESA, etc.) have pretty long lead times for rocket launches, but some of the newer ones are actually quite quick. Rocketlabs is making good progress towards making a new rocket in a week (they can already make one in less than a month). SpaceX probably takes longer to build a complete rocket, but 1. They have a stock of existing first stages since they reuse their rockets 2. They probably have a stock of in production second stages and fairings since they are trying to do a Starlink launches every 2 weeks or so. I'm not saying you're wrong. Just that we'd need to launch a lot of satellites pretty urgently for that to make sense.
dogma1138 6y ago
There isn’t a star close enough to go nova and have any affect on us, well other than the Sun and if it goes nova there won’t be anyone left to launch anything since it will vaporize the oceans and strip off the atmosphere.