Do satellites have lasers?

Strategic Defense Initiative Other aspects included satellites in orbit carrying powerful laser weapons, plasma weapons, or particle beams. When a missile launch was detected, the satellite would fire at the missile (or warheads) and destroy it.

Do satellites use lasers?

The LLCD is NASA's first attempt at two-way space communication using an optical laser instead of radio waves, and is expected to lead to operational laser systems on NASA satellites in future years. In November 2013, laser communication from a jet platform Tornado was successfully demonstrated for the first time.

Do we have lasers in space?

While a space-based laser system is still about 20 years from being realized, there are three lasers being considered for it, including hydrogen fluoride (HF), deuterium fluoride (DF) and chemical oxygen iodine (COIL). In a 1998 report titled Laser Weapons in Space: A Critical Assessment (PDF file), Lt.

Are there any weaponized satellites?

Right now, the US only acknowledges one space weapon—a ground-based communications jammer to interfere with signals sent from satellites. (A brief note: Acknowledgment aside, the US also has missiles that could shoot down satellites—they demo'd this in 2008!

Does NASA have lasers?

NASA's Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD) is the next step in optical communications. Optical communications uses infrared lasers to send data to and from space. The technology will let NASA collect more science data and explore farther into the universe than ever before.

Can lasers carry data?

Laser communications will enable 10 to 100 times more data transmitted back to Earth than current radio frequency systems. It would take roughly nine weeks to transmit a complete map of Mars back to Earth with current radio frequency systems. With lasers, it would take about nine days.

How do we communicate with satellites?

Satellites communicate by using radio waves to send signals to the antennas on the Earth….How do satellites communicate?

1. scientific data (like the pictures the satellite took),
2. the health of the satellite, and.
3. where the satellite is currently located in space.

Oct 14, 2012

Does the US have particle beam weapons?

In the 1980s, the US Strategic Defense Initiative put into development a neutral particle beam weapon, which was launched into space in 1989 and successfully operated for four minutes. However, particle beam weapons have still, today, not progressed beyond this experimental stage.

Does USA have space weapons?

Though the US military has researched space-based weapons, the US maintains its participation in the Outer Space Treaty, an international arms agreement barring weapons of mass destruction from orbit.

What are the rods of God in military terms?

The "rods from god" idea was a bundle of telephone-pole-size (20 feet long, 1 foot in diameter) tungsten rods, dropped from orbit, reaching a speed of up to 10 times the speed of sound. The rod itself would penetrate hundreds of feet into the Earth, destroying any potential hardened bunkers or secret underground sites.