Everything about Space Weapon totally explained
Space weapons are
weapons used in
space warfare. They include weapons that can attack space systems in orbit (for example
anti-satellite weapons), attack targets on the earth from space or disable missiles travelling through space. In the course of the
militarisation of space, such weapons were developed mainly by the contesting
superpowers during the
Cold War, and some remain under development today. Space weapons are also a central theme in
military science fiction and sci-fi
video games.
Earth to space weapons
Anti-satellite weapons, which are primarily surface-to-space and air-to-space missiles, have been developed by the
United States, the
USSR/
Russia, and the
People's Republic of China. Some test firings have been successful in destroying orbiting satellites.
In general use of explosive and
kinetic kill systems is limited to relatively low altitude due to
space debris issues and so as to avoid triggering the
Kessler syndrome.
Strategic Defense Initiative
On
March 23 1983, President
Ronald Reagan proposed the
Strategic Defense Initiative, a research program with a goal of developing a defensive system which would destroy enemy
ICBMs. The defensive system was nicknamed
Star Wars, after the movie, by its detractors.
Some concepts of the system included
Brilliant Pebbles, which were Kinetic Kill Vehicles, essentially small rockets launched from satellites toward their targets (a warhead, warhead bus, or even an upper stage of an ICBM. Other aspects included
satellites in
orbit carrying powerful
lasers or
particle beams. When a missile launch was detected, the satellite would fire at the missile (or warheads) and destroy it. Although no real hardware was ever manufactured for deployment (according to public knowledge), today the military is testing the use of lasers mounted on
Boeing 747s to destroy missiles. The tests are taking place at
Edwards Air Force Base.
Space to earth weapons
Orbital weaponry
Orbital weaponry is any weapon that's in
orbit around a large body such as a planet or moon. As of 2008, there are no known operative orbital weapons systems, but several were designed by the
United States and the
Soviet Union during the
Cold War.
Development of orbital weaponry was largely halted after the entry into force of the
Outer Space Treaty and the
SALT II treaty. These agreements prohibit
weapons of mass destruction from being placed in space. As other weapons exist, notably those using
kinetic bombardment, that wouldn't violate these treaties, some private groups and government officials have proposed a
Space Preservation Treaty which would ban the placement of any weaponry in outer space.
Orbital bombardment
Orbital bombardment is the act of attacking targets on a
planet,
moon or other
such object from
orbit around the object, rather than from an
aircraft, or a platform beyond orbit. It is most often encountered in
fiction, but has been proposed as a means of attack for several real-world weapons systems concepts, including
kinetic bombardment and as a nuclear delivery system.
During the
Cold War, the
Soviet Union deployed a
Fractional Orbital Bombardment System from 1968-1983. Using this system, a nuclear warhead could be placed in
low Earth orbit, and later de-orbited to hit any location on the Earth's surface. While the Soviet Union deployed a working version of the system, they were forbidden by the
Outer Space Treaty to place live warheads in space. The fractional orbital bombardment system was phased out in January 1983 in compliance with the
SALT II treaty of 1979, which, among other things, prohibited the deployment of systems capable of placing
weapons of mass destruction in such a partial orbit.
Orbital bombardment systems with conventional warheads are permitted under the terms of SALT II. Most such proposed systems rely on long rods dropped from orbit and depend on kinetic energy, rather than explosives, for their destructive power.
In fiction
Fictional or real space weapons in various forms are often prominently featured in
science fiction, particularly in
military science fiction and in
video games with a sci-fi theme.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Space Weapon'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://space_weapon.totallyexplained.com">Space weapon Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
