It's like lasing a stick of dynamite...

...to rip off Real Genius (1985).

In April, the Air Force launched the XSS-11, an experimental microsatellite with the technical ability to disrupt other nations' military reconnaissance and communications satellites.

Another Air Force space program, nicknamed Rods From God, aims to hurl cylinders of tungsten, titanium or uranium from the edge of space to destroy targets on the ground, striking at speeds of about 7,200 miles an hour with the force of a small nuclear weapon.

A third program would bounce laser beams off mirrors hung from space satellites or huge high-altitude blimps, redirecting the lethal rays down to targets around the world. A fourth seeks to turn radio waves into weapons whose powers could range "from tap on the shoulder to toast," in the words of an Air Force plan.

...according to a piece in today's NYT on our Air Force's plans to put weapons into space.

So, so, so wrong.
Such bad diplomacy.
So far from feasible.
And yet --- so cool.

The article has references to the Death Star, and General Lord remarks that "Space superiority is not our birthright, but it is our destiny."

Join us, Congress, and we can rule the galaxy as father and son.

I want my X-wing fighter now, and I'll vote for anyone who can make it happen.