3 ms·
sure seems like this could just as easily be used to perform on-orbit disassembly of a hostile nation's satellite?
by sidewndr46 3mo ago
sure seems like this could just as easily be used to perform on-orbit disassembly of a hostile nation's satellite?
- JumpCrisscross 3mo ago> on-orbit disassembly of a hostile nation's satellite? Too complicated for disassembly. But totally valid for modification.
- bespokedevelopr 3mo agoYes, China demonstrated this capability a couple year ago with towing a geo sat to a different orbit. It only makes sense to go tit-for-tat on these capabilities for servicing and the unspoken offensive ability. https://spacenews.com/chinas-orbital-maneuvers-blur-the-line-between-peaceful-and-provocative/ https://spacenews.com/chinas-orbital-maneuvers-blur-the-line...
- aqfamnzc 3mo agoI would think there are much less expensive and more rapid methods of "on-orbit disassembly" than a system like this?
- ceejayoz 3mo agoNone of them can drop nice deniable limpet mines that go off much later, though.
- ben_w 3mo agoIf I was going to attempt that, instead of a complex repair bot, I'd be asking if the combination of a Raspberry Pi Pico, minimal sensors/comms, small ion drive, and PV can be made smaller than whatever the tracking radar's wavelength is. Launch thousands in one go in a big boring-seeming box, to a completely different orbit, release the pies and let orbital velocity do the damage on impact. (Actually hitting is of course hard, even under power, but on the other hand if you miss you get to re-use the same impactor for another attempt perhaps every 47 minutes depending on the orbit).
- spieswl 3mo agoAbsolutely, although it's a different ball of wax if you're trying to do RPO of this complexity with an adversarial body.