Laser weapons for space? US officials see threat, opportunity

HUNTSVILLE, AL. — As the Pentagon and other militaries around the world rush to deploy large satellite constellations designed to be less susceptible to kinetic attack, US military officials responsible for space operations see laser weapons — on the ground, in the air, at sea and even in space ? as both a future threat and an opportunity. “Surely you’re not going to try and attack with a direct asset ASAT [anti-satellite weapon] 10,000 satellites,” Lt. Col. Rick Zellman, deputy commander of US Space Command (SPACECOM), said today. Instead, he told the annual Army Space and Missile Defense Symposium here,…