--- title: "The Pentagon Wants an Orbital Space Weapon to Blast Enemy Missiles" description: "The Pentagon is requesting hundreds of millions of dollars to ramp up space-based weaponry including particle beams and space lasers." date: "2019-03-16" modified: "2019-03-16" authors: - name: "Jon Christian" job_title: "Executive Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/pentagon-orbital-space-weapon" categories: - "Off-World" - "Space" tags: - "laser" - "military" - "Pentagon" - "the digest" --- # The Pentagon Wants an Orbital Space Weapon to Blast Enemy Missiles ![]() *\Image: Tokyo Movie Shinsha\* ## Space Laser You know [the scene]() in "Akira" where Tetsuo rips a satellite space weapon out of orbit? Now the U.S. military wants to try something similar, [according to *Defense One*](). The Pentagon is requesting hundreds of millions of dollars to ramp up space-based weaponry including particle beams and space lasers that'll fire downward at Earthly targets — a dark vision of the militarization of space. ## Ballistic Missiles According to *Defense One,* a Missile Defense Agency document released this week describes the military's ambitions to disable ballistic missiles right as they launch. "The addition of the neutral particle Beam effort will design, develop, and conduct a feasibility demonstration for a space-based Directed Energy Intercept layer," it reads. "This future system will offer new kill options for the \[Ballistic Missile Defense System\] and adds another layer of protection for the homeland." ## Orbital Weaponry Several contractors have prepared prototype orbital weaponry designs for the Pentagon over the years, according to *Defense One*, but they've been enormous and impractical. But now officials hope advances could make such a weapon feasible for a test by 2023. "We’ve come a long way in terms of the technology we use today to where a full, all-up system wouldn’t be the size of three of these conference rooms, right?" said a senior defense official, according to *Defense One*. "We now believe we can get it down to a package that we can put on as part of a payload to be placed on orbit." **READ MORE:** [Pentagon Wants to Test A Space-Based Weapon in 2023]() \[*Defense One*\] **More on space lasers:** *[Russia Wants to Vaporize Space Junk With a Laser. There Is No Way This Will Go Wrong.]()* ## Author I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()