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<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 08/09/2012 16:32, spike wrote:<br>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><span
style="color:#1F497D">A disadvantage I can see is that a
space based laser might not be effective in maintaining
the old paradigm of mutual assured destruction. With
Iran getting nukes soon, I don’t know how to map the
future of that notion.</span></p>
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<br>
Mutually assured destruction is based on the idea that if you
defect, the other side can make it so costly that it would be
irrational to have defected in the first place. And vice versa.<br>
<br>
I think one can do this with laser-sats too. Most likely they are
great for taking each other out. That is bad, since it encourages
surprise attacks. But the infrastructure they embody also allows you
to have other anti-satelite weapons in orbit, including hard to
detect stealth systems that could retaliate. More importantly a
broken solar sat produces *loads* of fragments in the same orbit: it
might be that you don't need any weapons for MAD, but that the
Kessler fragmentation cascade will make any solar-sat system
impossible. And even if the enemy has not fired on your satelites,
you could in principle fire on your own to trigger the "everybody
loses" result.<br>
<br>
Hmm, this is worth thinking about. I like Keith's scheme a lot, but
it will involve many loads into orbit and some big structures up
there. A debris management solution is probably vital for it. <br>
<br>
<br>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Anders Sandberg,
Future of Humanity Institute
Oxford Martin School
Faculty of Philosophy
Oxford University </pre>
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