BirdOfSteel t1_j6lwsln wrote on January 31, 2023 at 6:36 AM

Reply to comment by AlpineCorbett in 2 big pieces of space junk nearly collide in orbital 'bad neighborhood' by jeffsmith202

You might be thinking of the F-15 that fired the missile. The missile actually had target-seeking capability so really the F-15 was mostly just an expensive missile launcher.

AlpineCorbett t1_j6lxt4p wrote on January 31, 2023 at 6:49 AM

You're right. An f-15 with our first ASM. Way back in the mid 80s.

Makes me wonder what kind of sophisticated ASM's we might have now. Or perhaps other anti satellite munitions.

Personally I'm hoping for big ass lasers, for obvious reasons.

BirdOfSteel t1_j6mt29l wrote on January 31, 2023 at 1:19 PM

Can't get much more effective than a missile that does the aiming for you. Since missile tech has already had a lot of funding/testing over the years, the missiles become cheaper to manufacture/sell, meaning which means you can just throw more bombs at the problem for the same amount of money.

Could make a really big laser if we just divert a little bit of the military budget though...

RhesusFactor t1_j6op8xu wrote on January 31, 2023 at 8:41 PM

If you are interested have a read of the csis space threat assessment. https://aerospace.csis.org/space-threat-assessment-2022/

And report on counterspace weapons https://www.csis.org/analysis/defense-against-dark-arts-space-protecting-space-systems-counterspace-weapons