NationStates Jolt Archive

It is with great pride that we unveil one of the newest and most innovative inventions of Halberdanger. We have developed several prototype satellites which have been engineered with the general purpose of defending the world itself from catastrophic dangers such as micro-meteors, and with some more developmental research, full sized meteors as well. They do so by utilizing massive Electromagnets which are powered by a vast array of solar panels which unfold from the inside of the satellite pod after they have exited the Earth's atmosphere. At current power, these Electromagnets can stop partially and redirect small to medium sized meteors moving at full speed. Halberdanger is launching 6 satellites total, with links to our numerous military outposts for redirection of the satellites in orbit, utilizing a GPS tracking system and afterburners. This endeavour has cost a minor $10 Million per satellite, and is steadily becoming even more cost effective, as we have utilized very current space technology and combined it with other fields to produce these ingenious devices. We hope to improve upon them and continue to protect not only our country, but our entire planet.

Assuming the planet you are speaking of is Earth (Which the FC has many colonies on), what is to stop you from planting satellite imagery technology on these satellites, and using them for espionage? I'am not insinuating that you do this, just curious.

Well, one of several reasons that satellite imaging and other such devices would be very impractical, as a great deal of energy and space is required to operate the Electromagnets since the satellites themselves run on solar energy. In addition to that, the Electromagnets would present a sufficient danger to any such devices and complicated processors. It's already fairly difficult to effectively shield the electronics of the satellite, and to provide further shielding and consideration for other such technology is tempting, these were only created to serve a highly specific purpose.