$29M To Start US Satellite Protection Program

coondoggie sends in a Network World piece that begins "The Air Force laid out $29 million in contracts this week to build space-based sensors that could detect threats or hazards and protect satellites in orbit. Assurance Technologies and Lockheed Martin Space Systems will split $20 million of the two-year contract that the Air Force says should ultimately demonstrate a viable sensing capability, as well as integration with other space systems to offer threat and hazard detection, assessment and notification ... The Air Force is looking to protect satellites from ground based lasers or anti-satellite missiles mostly."

Re:Pointless, no wonder its underfunded

[cowscows]

I agree. I think a much more useful line of research is making satellites harder to detect. There's not much that can be done to protect the big bright ones that are already up there, but I'd imagine that better technology has resulted in more capable satellites in smaller packages. Add in some fancy stealth-type technologies, and now we're talking.

Re:$29 Million?

[jlarocco]

Define "much." Because this country has many people that truly can't buy "much" "these days". As soon as there's an eminent war with a global super power (because anything shorter of one wouldn't merit this program), I'm pretty sure a lot of us are going to look back and say "I wish all that money was spent on stabilizing our economy and international relations rather than on big guns for the pricks that started this conflict."

In case you missed it, they already tried spending over $800 billion dollars on that, and it didn't work. Seems very unlikely a mere $29 million more would fix the problem.

Not that I necessarily agree with this satellite program, but it's a better waste of tax money than bailing out idiots.

retroreflectors

[at10u8]

For some satellites hitting them with ground-based lasers [wikipedia.org] is the whole point of their existence.