The us military wants to develop a space laser capable of destroying enemy weapons from orbit, us and British media reported recently. At the same time, the United States is striving to become the first nation to militarize space.
Defense 1 reported that in its fiscal 2020 budget report, defense department officials presented the government with a 3. A $0.4 billion grant request to fund research on space lasaer pointer, particle beams and the next generation of new missile defense weapons, starting next year, aims to test neutral particle beams in orbit in fiscal year 2023.
Two studies develop laser weapons
US President Donald trump has proposed plans for a space force, saying he wants to develop weapons in space ahead of superpower rivals China and Russia.
Previously disclosed us space weapons include the x-37b orbital test vehicle, a reusable unmanned space plane that “looks” like NASA’s space shuttle but “is much smaller”. The space plane is 8. 8 m, 2 m high. It’s 9 meters, weighs about 4,990 kilograms and is powered by solar cells with lithium-ion batteries.
Defense department officials’ new plans to develop weapons in space include lasers and neutral-particle beams that could intercept missiles, the defense 1 website reported. The beam USES subatomic particles to bombard each other’s missiles until they become waste.
The daily mail also reported recently that the pentagon is currently conducting two studies aimed at establishing us combat superiority. A six-month study is expected to cost $15 million to explore the possibility of using lasers in space to disable enemy missiles on launch pads.
Another study will investigate the feasibility of using space-based beams of neutral particles. The beam interferes with missiles by traveling at extremely high speeds, but the subatomic particle stream travels slightly slower than the photons emitted by lasers traveling at the speed of light.
It is not the first time the technology has matured in the us
This is not the first time the us has studied the feasibility of such weapons.
In a project called BEAR, completed in 1989, a neutral beam emitter was launched into orbit.
The experiment reported a degree of success: “the BEAR test has shown that the accelerator technology can adapt to the space environment. The first operation of the neutral particle beam accelerator in space found no unexpected physics.”
Since then, as technology has improved, the technology has become cheaper and the transmitters have become smaller. “We now think we can package particle beam launchers and put them into orbit as part of a payload,” said a senior defense official.
“Power generation, particle beam formation, accelerator technology and neutralization of the particle beam are ripe for miniaturization of particle beam emitters,” he said.
However, officials also reiterated that the studies did not mean that weapons would be deployed. “I can’t say it meets realistic space and weight requirements, but we are about to launch a prototype and demonstrate it,” an official told a news conference.
Of course, there are opponents, including many advocates of arms control. “The deployment of interceptors in space is a disaster for strategic stability,” said Kingston reeve, director of disarmament and threat reduction policy at the arms control association. To ensure their nuclear deterrent, other countries may build more new long-range ballistic missiles as well as non-ballistic missiles, and take steps to improve their ability to destroy U.S. interceptors, which would greatly increase the threat to U.S. space assets.