Cue Darth Vader theme music.
December 11, 2003: Last month, the U.S. put a new kind of satellite into orbit, the XSS-11. This bird has robotic capabilities and was designed to change orbits so it can photograph other satellites, or just objects (like space junk) in orbit. The XSS-11 (Experimental Small Satellite) weighs about 230 pounds, uses a laser radar (lidar) to check out nearby objects, and is mobile enough to go after other objects in space.
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What is not said is that the XSS-11 could also destroy other satellites. Well, that has been said, but quietly.
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