Such architectures have been proposed in the past and have even had prototype technology developed by SDIO and its successors. However it must be understood that the current cost of launching such a system and its complex infrastructure, as well as their continued maintenance have made space based direct energy weapons difficult to deploy. Other added and just as complex problems are power source density, (which can be alleviated through the use of chemical reaction based lasers), heat load dissipation, and finally weapon efficiency, which is less than 10% for any suitable candidate. These and other problems make spaced based defense difficult to justify. The International Space Station (ISS) in my opinion is a mistake and the US can quickly correct it by reviving its competitor the Space Hab mini space station. It is a more suitable candidate for military operations, corporate as well as government experimentation than the oversized jack-of-all-trades master of none ISS concept. Hec031

WHy is the ISS a mistake? Just because we cant mount a laser or a coupla nukes doesnt mean its a mistake. We can always build another station in orbit if we need it for any of these things, and its likely we will.

I know much money and research was spent on SDI, but I also recall prominent physicists claiming it would never work. Now, I run across this blurb in an National Review article: In Rowan Scarborough's book, Rumsfeld's War, it was revealed that the Israeli defense forces have eighty-two nuclear weapons as part of their nuclear deterrence force. In our research for this book, we discovered that a group of countries, led by Israel and the U.S., had been working since 1981 on a mega-secret project to develop and deploy a weapon system that can neutralize nuclear weapons. The highly advanced, space-deployable, BHB weapon system, code-named XXXBHB-BACAR-1318-I390MSCH, has extraordinary potential and is a key part of the West's deterrence strategy. For the past twenty-five years, the project and the scientists involved in it were kept in strict secrecy and their existence denied. The scientists rejected Nobel Physics prize and Nobel Peace prize nominations and have been repeatedly and deliberately the subject of intense military disinformation through the media in order to divert attention from their highly secretive work. http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/mcinerney_vallely200405200844.asp (see paragraph 10) Does anyone know more about this? Anyone read the book "Rumsfeld's War" ? I thought this stuff was still mostly theoretical / experimental?...