[much discussion about satellites and Patriot Games deleted]
>That means that just about every ship that carries a laser would be
>absolutely DEADLY to ANYONE on the ground. You wanna assassinate Lucan?
>Just go into orbit around Capital and wait till he steps outside!
Um, wouldn't there be a problem firing through an atmosphere, as in laser
dispersion? Light from the stars *is* dispersed when it comes though the
atmosphere -- that's a big part of the reason to have an orbital telescope.
Granted, a 100MW laser won't get hurt much, but at a 100* km range, a 0.001
degree error would result in a miss by 1.75 meters.
Also, a ship loitering around in low orbit would get attention paid to it.
That's what orbital defense satellites with mondo armor and space weapons
are meant to deal with...
Brandon Cope
* - Okay, I'm not sure what exactly constitutes low orbit -- this
was just a guesstimate.