• burble@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    1 year ago

    The mass to orbit isn’t the hard part. A reusable Falcon 9 can put 18,400 kg in low Earth orbit. That should cover two rods, plus hardware to hold and deploy them.

    • stewsters@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      And then you would either need to wait for your satellite to get over the target, or add a lot more weight to maneuver it to the target.

      If you add wings for precision you are adding drag and heat, both sapping from your destructive power.

      If your weapons satellites all start maneuvering to cross your opponents’ cities then they probably would have a bit of a warning that you are planning something, and likely just shoot them down at a much cheaper cost. Anti satellite missiles have been shown to work, and it would be easy to overheat a satellite with lasers.

      You also have to contend with them just nuking you in response. If Moscow were to be destroyed in a single blast they would not wait to determine if it was nukes or something else, they would fire.

      • CookieOfFortune@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        You can definitely make some stealthy satellites.

        I was thinking for release you could actually fold out wings/parachute to increase drag so it would deorbit faster and with less propellant.

        Don’t think you can target a satellite with a laser, it’s too far away and you’d have to find it first.

        But overall it doesn’t seem particularly efficient or useful.