Re:Close encounters of the classified kind
by onion2k on Sunday July 16, 2017 @03:38AM
(#14781004)
Would there be a necessity to get close to a satellite to destroy it? Some sort of rocket could be launched from quite far away without needing much fuel if it was already in a similar orbit.
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Re:Close encounters of the classified kind
by exhilaration on Sunday July 16, 2017 @08:10AM
(#14781662)
No need for such a complex solution, the Chinese just launch a missile from the ground: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Chinese_anti-satellite_...
So do the Americans: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Burnt_Frost .
If you can get close to a satellite however, you can take photo's from up close or from arbitrary angles. Spy agencies might be very interested in this. You could conceivably also put in inside your cargo bay and bring it back to the surface for 'disassembly', though its owners would probably be unhappy about that.
Re:Close encounters of the classified kind
by sliverstorm on Sunday July 16, 2017 @10:38AM
(#14782131)
You mean like they did with the space shuttle? :)
Re:Close encounters of the classified kind
by justadeveloper2 on Monday July 17, 2017 @12:07PM
(#14789805)
To have plausible deniability, yes. Maybe they don't wish to destroy it as much as damage it using a laser or they have some way of pushing it out of its orbit or causing it to go out of control. Say the US attack satellite was 20km away and could attack and damage another satellite. Blame could not then be attributed back to the US, right?