Interesting facility on satellite image in China

[Gadget]

Satellite Photos Show Chinese Anti-Satellite Laser Base

Commercial satellite images have provided the first photographs of a secret Chinese anti-satellite laser base in western Xinjiang province.

freebeacon.com

Not sure what to make of this. I have to wonder how they get that this is a laser installation, unless they've actually seen them fire.

Interesting installation none the less.

-G

 

[paul1598419]

I don't see how the Freebeacon.com could know this from a photo that anyone can get. It kind of reminds me of the SDI from the 1980s which was dubbed Star Wars at the time. It was the wet dream of Ronald Reagan and cost us over $1 trillion in 1980's dollars. Unfortunately, it was not possible to do this and may still not be possible.

 

[Gadget]

I remember that program well. And at the time, yes, total wet dream. But, tracking technology and laser power have come a long way since the 80's. Of course, I'm not privy to the technical aspects of current tracking systems, but from the tests of aircraft tracking that have been made public, I don't see it as a stretch to lock on to something in a relatively static orbit.

The actual analyzing of the sat photos was done by some Indian military personnel.

In a linked article.....

"China's ASAT laser weapons have been known since at least 2006, when China used a ground based laser to "dazzle" an orbiting U.S. satellite in what was viewed as a test attack. The laser incident came a year before the 2007 Chinese ASAT missile test against an orbiting weather satellite that created a dangerous orbiting debris field."