| > It would take only one nuclear device being "detonated" in low orbit, to wipe out nearly all of the satellites in a large area of that space. The resulting EMP may wreck quite a few ground-based systems too, IIRC from a book I read recently. Can't recall the name, though... A nuclear weapon detonated in low earth orbit would not destroy a single global navigation satellite. They are not in low earth orbit. A nuclear weapon detonated in medium earth orbit would wipe out between 0 and 1 navigation satellite, depending on how close you get. The satellites just aren't that close together. An EMP would destroy electronics on the ground, but this will be a systemic effect. Satellite navigation would be collateral damage. When the ground-based electronics are replaced, though, the satellites will still be working. > In any case, disrupting satellite-based navigation is the simplest kind of rocket science: a missile that just has to go up and then detonate, no aiming required. Nuclear weapons are powerful, but they still have to obey the laws of physics. If you get far enough away, the inverse-squared law makes even a nuclear explosion look like a firecracker. A 1 megaton nuclear weapon would have to be detonated within half a kilometer to damage a satellite physically: http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/spacegunconvent... The shielding needed to protect a satellite against EMP only adds 5% to the cost of the satellite: http://fas.org/spp/starwars/congress/1997_h/h970716u.htm So basically, it's going to take one nuclear warhead to destroy one navigation satellite. If a rogue nation has 60 nuclear warheads, it's hardly going to waste them to take out 60 navigation satellites. |