Kinetic bombardment

"Project Thor" redirects here. For other uses, see Thor (disambiguation).
"Kinetic strike" redirects here. For the political euphemism, see kinetic military action.

A kinetic bombardment or a kinetic orbital strike is the hypothetical act of attacking a planetary surface with an inert kinetic projectile from orbit (orbital bombardment), where the destructive power comes from the kinetic energy of the projectile impacting at very high speeds. The concept originated during the Cold War.

Typical depictions of the tactic are of a satellite containing a magazine of tungsten rods and a directional thrust system. When a strike is ordered, the launch vehicle brakes[1] one of the rods out of its orbit and into a suborbital trajectory that intersects the target. The rods would typically be shaped to minimize air resistance and thus maximize velocity upon impact.

The kinetic bombardment has the advantage of being able to deliver projectiles from a very high angle at a very high speed, making them extremely difficult to defend against. In addition, projectiles would not require explosive warheads, and—in the simplest designs—would consist entirely of solid metal rods, giving rise to the common nickname "rods from God".[2] Disadvantages include the technical difficulties of ensuring accuracy and the high costs of positioning ammunition in orbit.

  1. ^ Pelt, Michel van (2005). Space Tourism: Adventures in Earth Orbit and Beyond. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 107. ISBN 978-0-387-40213-0.; - the word "brake" in this paragraph refers to the act of braking; the fact that by slowing the rod's orbital trajectory, the satellite can de-orbit it in order to drop it onto the planet below.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference PopSci-2004-06-01 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).