orbital battle station

[808shooter]

What do you guys think about the militarization of space? I'd really like rational, logical answers rather than the visceral "ooh missles in space bad" or "cool when is the deth star planned" kind of thinking.



http://pajamasmedia.com/2006/12/star...rats_to_gu.php

Coming Soon: The Orbital Battle Station

Pajamas Media has learned that the Bush administration is going to ask Congress for funding to begin development of an “orbital battle station” that will be able to attack enemy missiles in their vulnerable boost phase.

Each Battle Station would be a fairly large satellite that carried a number, perhaps 40 to 50 infrared guided “kill vehicles.” On orders from the ground, the battle station would launch these kill vehicles, roughly about the size of a loaf of bread, at incoming missiles. Professor Everett Dolman of the School of Advanced Air and Space Studies at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama and the author of Astropolitik - Classical Geopolitics in The Space Age, says that space based systems are “the only viable option for global defense against the most likely threats, such as an attack by Iran against Israel or by Pakistan against India.”

oh by the way, not really caring weather this is real or not. just a rumour floating about teh internets.

[joshuatree]

Re: orbital battle station

I think militarization of space is a step down a treacherous, slippery slope because once you start it, there will be a space arms race. Besides, isn't this concept being pushed by Bush previously known as "Star Wars" under Reagan?

[Hellbent]

Re: orbital battle station

Thats a really ... that drawing looks like someone with mspaint had too much time.
I thought we had orbital launch platforms already, just that the public doesnt know about it. for that matter, dont we have 'killer satellites' (satellites that can attack other satellites) or am I reading too much sci fi?

[joshuatree]

Re: orbital battle station

I think we supposedly have some satellites with experimental lasers on them to interfere and disrupt rival satellites, but nothing in terms of onboard missiles and trained monkeys in spacesuits ready to storm a rival satellite yet.

[Mahi Waina]

Re: orbital battle station

Other likely targets under the Bush administration:

Abortion Clinics
AFL-CIO Headquarters
Gay Bathhouses
UC Berkeley
Sierra Club Offices
Mosques
Venezuela

When Democrats take over:

Pharmaceutical Companies
Chevron
Bohemian Grove
The Crystal Cathedral
Texas

[808shooter]

Re: orbital battle station

^^^
Thanks for the attempted derail. No thanks.

I personally think the militarization of space is a necessary evil if the US is to continue it's place as the dominant military power on earth. Currently it is our ability to project power via our carrier fleet and our ownership of the skies that allow us to straddle the world and protect our geopolitical interests.

If we were to move into space-based weapons platforms, it would be a capability that very few nations would be able to match. The offensive and defensive applications make it a virtual no brainer. We really face no competition that would make for a space based arms race. The Chinese view us as economic and political adversaries, not as potential military adversaries. And the Russians are a shell of their former boogie man selves and also would not be a credible adversary. We currently dominate the world militarily and I see no end to that trend.

The defensive, anti-ICBM capabilities make this type of orbital platform very attractive. I see no philosophical problem with the militarization of our oceans or skies. What is so special about space?

[helen]

Re: orbital battle station

Assuming such orbital battle stations were armed with physical weapons like missiles and what passes as bullets, sooner or later such stations would run out of ammo and then what?

Also to be effective one orbital battle station is not going to cut it you are going to need a lot of them to protect the United States.

[Hellbent]

Re: orbital battle station

Death Star!

[Miulang]

Re: orbital battle station

The White House has been oh so quietly moving quickly in the direction of militarizing space for the US. Some people think it's because once the UN drafts its proposal to keep space as a neutral area (like the oceans 250 miles off any shoreline), we won't be able to put up space stations that could send down missiles. But no UN resolution ever stopped us from doing what we wanted anyway, so...

What really frustrates me is that we're talking about a program that will require billions of our tax dollars while we still have people suffering from the aftereffects of Hurricane Katrina; we have States who were handed a No Child Left Behind Act without adequate funding, so our kids still are not getting the education they need, and we have millions of working poor with no access to healthcare.

We should take care of immediate needs of our citizens before we go off and fund pie-in-the-sky things like militarizing space.

Miulang

[joshuatree]

Re: orbital battle station

^^^
Thanks for the attempted derail. No thanks.

I personally think the militarization of space is a necessary evil if the US is to continue it's place as the dominant military power on earth. Currently it is our ability to project power via our carrier fleet and our ownership of the skies that allow us to straddle the world and protect our geopolitical interests.

If we were to move into space-based weapons platforms, it would be a capability that very few nations would be able to match. The offensive and defensive applications make it a virtual no brainer. We really face no competition that would make for a space based arms race. The Chinese view us as economic and political adversaries, not as potential military adversaries. And the Russians are a shell of their former boogie man selves and also would not be a credible adversary. We currently dominate the world militarily and I see no end to that trend.

The defensive, anti-ICBM capabilities make this type of orbital platform very attractive. I see no philosophical problem with the militarization of our oceans or skies. What is so special about space?

What kind of space-based weapons are you envisioning? If there are any nuclear based weapons, that is a bad idea. Right now, Earth's low orbit is such a junkyard with parts from all kinds of previous launches hurtling around at deadly speeds. Just this last shuttle launch, the astronauts lost like a wrench while working in space. Imagine a wrench hurtling at you at 17000MPH. It might be a good idea to invent a space "street cleaner" instead and clean up this mess first. Maybe get every country that ever launched stuff up there to chip in on a clean up fund.

As for Chinese and Russians not being adversaries, that depends on how the US goes about with foreign policy. We're constantly trying to meddle in their backyard with the former Eastern Bloc nations or the Central Asian countries. The more we do that, the more we create an adversary out of the two. Just like how we didn't like the Soviets meddling in Cuba since that was our backyard, we were ready to go to war with the USSR during that crisis.

[808shooter]

Re: orbital battle station

Assuming such orbital battle stations were armed with physical weapons like missiles and what passes as bullets, sooner or later such stations would run out of ammo and then what?

Also to be effective one orbital battle station is not going to cut it you are going to need a lot of them to protect the United States.

actually I was thinking that there would be a network of battle stations ringing the earth - all with anti-ICBM missles pointing downwards.

We really don't need the offensive capability as our current conventional forces are already dominant. It is nice to have options though.

If the battle stations run out of missles, resuppling them would be no problem with our next generation of Saturn 5 rockets. The shuttle is out. Heavy lift rockets will be on deck next.

What really frustrates me is that we're talking about a program that will require billions of our tax dollars while we still have people suffering from the aftereffects of Hurricane Katrina; we have States who were handed a No Child Left Behind Act without adequate funding, so our kids still are not getting the education they need, and we have millions of working poor with no access to healthcare.

We should take care of immediate needs of our citizens before we go off and fund pie-in-the-sky things like militarizing space.

while I do agree that folks in need from disaster and there are social programs in financial shortfall, we cannot ignore the realities of a still dangerous world. while we may no longer face nuclear annihilation from cold war adversaries, we still face major threats from rogue nations such as North Korea and militant Islamic nations.

We preserve the peace by carrying a big stick.

I suspect that our role as the military peacekeeper of the world will wane in our lifetime if the rest of the world can continue to make strides towards democracy and higher standard of living but until then, we need to be the strong democratic society that provides the example that the rest of the developing world can aspire to.

Also, not sure why you would refer to the orbital battle station as a pie in the sky idea. I think an anti ICBM umbrella is a great thing to have and worth every penny. Do you have life insurance? Homeowners insurance? Same thing here. We buy it with the hopes that we never needed it but it's still worth the peace of mind. In this case it's also a strong deterrent.

What kind of space-based weapons are you envisioning? If there are any nuclear based weapons, that is a bad idea. Right now, Earth's low orbit is such a junkyard with parts from all kinds of previous launches hurtling around at deadly speeds. Just this last shuttle launch, the astronauts lost like a wrench while working in space. Imagine a wrench hurtling at you at 17000MPH. It might be a good idea to invent a space "street cleaner" instead and clean up this mess first. Maybe get every country that ever launched stuff up there to chip in on a clean up fund.

I'm not nuts. No nukes in space. There is just no need for that and the potential for contamination in case of a problem during delivery would be bad. Conventional only. And a space vaccuum cleaner would be cool - maybe a really big nanotube cast net that would catch all of the junk.

As for Chinese and Russians not being adversaries, that depends on how the US goes about with foreign policy. We're constantly trying to meddle in their backyard with the former Eastern Bloc nations or the Central Asian countries. The more we do that, the more we create an adversary out of the two. Just like how we didn't like the Soviets meddling in Cuba since that was our backyard, we were ready to go to war with the USSR during that crisis.

Cuban missle crisis was in a different world. Relations with Russia are on par with relations with France. We may hate each other at times but there is very remote possibilty of war. Russia finally got it that we're not dangerous militarily but economically and culturally.

and the middle kingdom has never had a history of imperialism. they look inwards since the universe already revolves around them :-)