posted 11-16-2021 08:30 AM               

I wonder if it would not be better for this type of test to use special inflatables.

The inflatable target, upon departure, could be housed in a small space, using a small rocket or it could be "housed" in a larger carrier as a secondary payload.

Once in orbit it would inflate reaching dimensions compatible with those of a satellite target of an attack. At this point, once reached by the missile during the test, it would generate a few fragments once exploded, most of which are not dangerous.

posted 11-16-2021 08:37 AM               

The Instrumented Target Vehicle was a relatively sophisticated active satellite. Battery powered, the balloon satellite remained inert and uninflated in orbital storage until the inflation command was transmitted to it. This would only come minutes before the intercept test, and was given as the satellite passed over a Hawaiian ground station. This would set the target up for an intercept over the California coast by an ASAT launched by an F-15A from Edwards AFB.

posted 11-17-2021 03:05 PM               

How many economies have invested in, and come to rely upon, space-dependent technology in the form of navigation and data transfer with the assumption that these technologies are safe and reliable?

We use STEM and the reassurance that space technology is the way forward, to get schools and universities to invest in the advancement of space, we listen to governments spruik their reasoning why investment in space is a worthy cause, and how multinational cooperation can only be a good thing while planning and developing ways to disrupt the whole system at a moment's notice is considered justifiable.