# Russia tests "satellite catcher"



## CougarKing (19 Nov 2014)

A different kind of ASAT weapon? 

BBC News



> *Russia tests 'satellite catcher'*
> 
> By Paul Rincon
> Science editor, BBC News website
> ...


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## a_majoor (5 Dec 2014)

The former Soviet Union tested several variations of this sort of ASAT back in the 1980's, which would launch into orbit and then spend about one orbit moving close to the target. The "kill" mechanism was simply to explode close to the target and shower it with shrapnel.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-satellite_weapon#Soviet_Union



> *Soviet Union*[edit]
> 
> 1986 DIA illustration of the IS system attacking a target.
> The origins of the Soviet anti-satellite weapon program are unclear. According to some accounts, Sergei Korolev started some work on the concept in 1956 at his OKB-1, while others attribute the work to Vladimir Chelomei's OKB-52 around 1959. What is certain is that at the beginning of April 1960, Nikita Khrushchev held a meeting at his summer residence in Crimea, discussing an array of defense industry issues. Here, Chelomei outlined his rocket and spacecraft program, and received a go-ahead to start development of the UR-200 rocket, one of its many roles being the launcher for his anti-satellite project. The decision to start work on the weapon was made in March 1961 as the Istrebitel Sputnik (IS) (lit. "fighter satellite").
> ...


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## Colin Parkinson (18 Dec 2014)

Killing a satellite is easy if you can catch it, killing it and not littering that orbital plane with nasties that could kill your satellites would be important. A Laser/EMP pulse would be the best, or a parasite drone that latches on and converts the satellite or tears it up bit by bit while using the satellite own energy supply.


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## Cloud Cover (19 Dec 2014)

What would be really scary is catching the satellite and infecting it with a software virus that cascades to the ground station.


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