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Re:Ukraine Discovers Starlink on Downed Russian Shahed Drone... by rolph on Thursday September 26, 2024 @03:46PM (#41662427)
one nuke in orbit, will disrupt satellite service, duration dependent on design.
Re:Ukraine Discovers Starlink on Downed Russian Shahed Drone... by ben_w on Thursday September 26, 2024 @04:18PM (#41662842)
Yes, but Starlink is designed to be cheap and rapidly replaced anyway.

One nuke in space would also be a continental scale EMP, which is why, despite my expectation that the Russian stuff is probably more paint than metal, it's still not a good idea to bet the farm (everyone's farm) on that.

Re:Ukraine Discovers Starlink on Downed Russian Shahed Drone... by rolph on Thursday September 26, 2024 @04:31PM (#41663004)
it isnt only about EMPing satellites, it can also be about persistent inhibition of RF propagation with radionucliide chaf, as a deliberate feature.
Re:Ukraine Discovers Starlink on Downed Russian Shahed Drone... by ben_w on Friday September 27, 2024 @03:03AM (#41667193)
I meant EMPing the ground from orbit. I'm not convinced that radionucleotide chaff will do anything persistent in orbit; bombs have been detonated there before (hence why we know about HAEMP), the extra radiation belts don't last long.
Re:Ukraine Discovers Starlink on Downed Russian Shahed Drone... by rolph on Friday September 27, 2024 @03:22PM (#41674548)
in that case, the effect was hypothesized, later observed and understood. a deliberated RF denial involving munitions salted for the purpose is quite do-able. w/o specifics, an enduring denial munition may be engineered, however the perp would also have to endure the effect, as well as any response from the rest of the planet.