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The other less (directly at least[0]) world ending capability it might unlock is being able to non-destructively interfere with the satellites of other nations.
by rtkwe 2y ago
The other less (directly at least[0]) world ending capability it might unlock is being able to non-destructively interfere with the satellites of other nations. I think they'd prefer to avoid creating huge debris clouds if they could. The X-37B seems like it has the ability to visit and interfere with multiple satellites in a single launch. By being able to drastically change it's orbit it can alter it's orbit to intercept a target satellite and do it's work before the satellite's owner can respond to have the satellites maneuver.
[0] I say less directly because some nations like Russia have doctrine that states they may respond with nuclear weapons to conventional attacks that degrade it's ability to use their nuclear weapons or detect launches so messing with their observation satellites could snowball. According to some reporting one of the big hold ups with the US and other countries authorizing Ukraine to use provided weapons to strike inside Russia is there are dual use facilities that Ukraine would love to strike but also serve as important parts of the Russian nuclear system (early warning radars in the south that monitor airspace over Ukraine and provide launch warnings from places like Turkey/the Mediterranean).
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]