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	<title>David J. Williams &#187; iran&#8217;s satellite launch</title>
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		<title>More thoughts on Iran&#8217;s sat</title>
		<link>http://autumnrain2110.com/blog/2009/02/04/more-thoughts-on-irans-sat/</link>
		<comments>http://autumnrain2110.com/blog/2009/02/04/more-thoughts-on-irans-sat/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 04 Feb 2009 14:41:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[David Williams]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Geopolitics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[iran]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[iran's satellite launch]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[nuclear warheads]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[nukes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[satellite]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://autumnrain2110.com/blog/?p=929</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Iran&#8217;s satellite launch has got folks concerned about whether they&#8217;re about to perfect ballistic missile technology as well. This is something that&#8217;s good to be concerned about, but it&#8217;s worth remembering that if you can get something into orbit you&#8217;ve already got a global missile. It may not be as sexy as an ICBM capable [&#8230;]]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Iran&#8217;s satellite launch has got folks concerned about whether they&#8217;re about to perfect <a href="http://www.globalsecurity.org/space/library/news/2009/space-090203-afps01.htm" target="_blank">ballistic missile technology</a> as well. This is something that&#8217;s good to be concerned about, but it&#8217;s worth remembering that if you can get something into orbit you&#8217;ve already <em>got</em> a global missile. It may not be as sexy as an ICBM capable of hitting any street you like in New York City from the moment it&#8217;s launched, but as long as you can de-orbit your payload with precision you won&#8217;t be worried about sexiness.</p>
<p>Nikita Khrushchev certainly wasn&#8217;t.  Right about when he was ranting on about how &#8220;we-is-gonna-bury-you&#8221; was when he was signing off on development of the Fractional Orbital Bombardment System:  strap a massive warhead to a satellite, and then de-orbit it over the U.S. city of your choice.  Technically, <a href="http://www.astronautix.com/craft/ogch.htm" target="_blank">FOBS</a> (as it&#8217;s affectionately known) wasn&#8217;t even in violation of the soon-to-be-signed Outer Space Treaty of 1967, since the orbits were obstensibly partial ones.</p>
<p>But before everybody starts to panic, let&#8217;s get back to Iran.  To attain a FOBS capability, they&#8217;d need three things.</p>
<p><em>1. Increased payload</em>.  The Safir-2 payload isn&#8217;t enough for anything but the most tactical of nukes.</p>
<p><em>2. Precision de-orbiting capability</em>.  Getting something into space is tough, but it&#8217;s a helluva lot easier than re-entry/landing.</p>
<p><em>3. A nuclear warhead</em>.  Always top of any self-respecting nation&#8217;s shopping list.  And it turns out that today is the day that <a href="http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/KB05Ak01.html" target="_blank">discussions resume</a> in Frankfurt about just what the West should/could be doing to prevent Iran from getting one.  Hmmm.  If I were a fly, I know where <em>I&#8217;d</em> like to be. . .</p>
<p>And I should note that you don&#8217;t even need #2 if you want to have some <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_pulse" target="_blank">fun with EMP effects</a>.  But more on that later.</p>
<p><em>For an in-depth look at the weaponization of space a hundred years from now, my novel </em><em>Mirrored Heavens is available at your local bookstore and at <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_pulse" target="_blank">Amazon</a>. </em></p>
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