Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

US confirms for first time it has deployed space weapons

bbc.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

71–80 of 397 posts

Re: US confirms for first time it has deployed space weapons

#71

Post by etiennebausson »

_djo_ wrote: post #50
aa-jv wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see a lot of fear-mongering reports from sources claiming authority. I don't see any evidence .

What kind of evidence are you expecting? Detailed photographs of the satellites on orbit? These are credible institutions, with their statements regarding unusual orbital movements backed up by observations made by several independent groups.

I personally don't trust elements provided by U.S. agencies and foundations since the Irak war and the "proof" they delivered to justify it.

Proxy at work is stopping me from reading most of grandparent links, so it'll have to wait for home.

Re: US confirms for first time it has deployed space weapons

#72

Post by mc32 »

_djo_ wrote: post #50
aa-jv wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see a lot of fear-mongering reports from sources claiming authority. I don't see any evidence .

What kind of evidence are you expecting? Detailed photographs of the satellites on orbit? These are credible institutions, with their statements regarding unusual orbital movements backed up by observations made by several independent groups.

It’s like they’ll believe any rumors about the US doing things but then need concrete evidence irrefutable evidence when it comes to its adversaries.

Re: US confirms for first time it has deployed space weapons

#73

Post by consumer451 »

M95D wrote: post #60
anentropic wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

other satellites

Isn't it easier to shoot them from the ground when they pass over? In space, the orbit must be adjusted to at least come close enough to the target, wait for the rendezvous, fire, then adjust orbit again for the next target...

I believe that attribution is more difficult in strictly on-orbit activities. I would imagine that these weaponized satellites use radar stealth approaches similar to modern fighter aircraft. AFAIK, ground radar is basically what we have for space awareness.

I would imagine that every new intelligence-related satellite will have more sensors to be situationally aware, and make attribution possible.

If you pay attention to space-nerd podcasts like MECO, "Space Domain Awareness" is getting a lot of investment. I believe that's because we are relatively blind at the moment.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_domain_awareness

Re: US confirms for first time it has deployed space weapons

#75

Post by mrtksn »

ajsnigrutin wrote: post #69
mrtksn wrote: post #61

How is this smart? US was already able to strike any place on the globe, what happens if this motivates the US enemies also have weapons in space and then US mainland becomes strike-able. What was the thing that the US military previously couldn't blow up? The enemy now can have giant piece of hard metal in orbit and blow up previously %100 out of range data centers for example. Very unwise action on US part.

I always find it funny here, how out of all the targets "the enemy" could hit, HN-er is afraid they'll hit the datacenters :) You don't need space weapons to hit datacenters, you need one van full of explosives and someone willing to die to deliver it to a datacenter. To temporarily disable them, you just need a cheap drone with some explosives.

Finding someone who is both willing and able to deliver explosives to a datacenter wouldn't be easy, the last stime something like that happen is 9/11. Throwing large masses on the other hand is not so hard as countries like Iran already have missile building capacity and are partners with actual space capable Russia.

Also, the super expensive data centers are great targets, probably much better targets than US can hit in Iran for example. What happens if those Nvidia chips that are churning the economy start to getting blown up by carefully de-orbited stones?

Re: US confirms for first time it has deployed space weapons

#76

Post by Forgeties79 »

zenbane wrote: post #67
spwa4 wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But people want laws to not have to face this, and yet systematically refuse to actually do anything when those laws get violated. A law is fundamentally what's enforced, not what's on the paper. Which means if countries vote against any kind of enforcement, like happened here, those laws (whether rights or something else) don't exist. And they don't exist because regular people may shout about them (most don't), but…

This is why culture is important to. You can't legislate morals and ethics.

You absolutely can legislate morals and ethics. That’s why you can’t murder people.

Re: US confirms for first time it has deployed space weapons

#78

Post by verelo »

jonkoops wrote: post #8

Space really should be a neutral ground like Antarctica. Especially since the consequences of space debris might trigger the Kessler effect [1], denying humanity future access to low-earth orbit for the considerable future. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kessler_syndrome

> Space really should be a neutral ground like Antarctica.

Cute, Antarctica is just future beachfront...give it time.

Post reply on HN