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submitted 2 days ago by return2ozma@lemmy.world to c/usa@lemmy.ml
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[-] moth@anarchist.nexus 5 points 1 day ago* (last edited 11 hours ago)

no, that treaty only covered nuclear weapons. it's a poorly kept secret that the US, Russia, and China all have weaponized satellites, the US is just the first to admit to it. there was even a proposal around the turn of the century to put 20ft tungsten rods on satellites for precision kinetic strikes, since that wouldn't violate the treaty. they called them "rods from god". I'm guessing that since we know about it, they didn't actually do it. probably because of the logistics of getting such heavy projectiles into orbit.

we also know of weapons tests that Russia has done for anti-satelite weapon platforms. presumably they are capable of shooting down NATO communication and GPS satellites if a war ever breaks out.

[-] Vorticity@lemmy.world 2 points 10 hours ago

Didn't China also demonstrate their ability to destroy a satellite from a different satellite about a decade ago? I remember it creating a huge uproar because of the massive amount of space debris it created.

Also, given our military budget, I wouldn't be at all surprised if we did go to the expense of putting massig tungsten rods in orbit.

this post was submitted on 15 Sep 2026
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