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During the 1980s, the United States Air Force designed, built, and tested the ASM-135 missile. At the time, it was the only air-launched missile with the capability to (and did) destroy a satellite on orbit. An F-15A launched the missile, dubbed by a Washington Post reporter the ‘flying tomato can’, at 38,100 feet. Streaking into space, the missile homed in on the U.S. Solwind P78-1 satellite at 345 miles above the Earth, and impacted the one-ton spacecraft at about 15,000 mph. Two solid-rocket stages (most likely tested and proven at the AFRL Rocket Lab) propelled the missile into space, and a Miniature Homing Vehicle (MHV) locked onto the satellite’s infrared image with a telescopic seeker. The MHV spun rapidly for stability and corrected its course with 63 small rocket motors. The Russians were able to repeat this feat some 35 years later in November of 2021 with their A-235 Missile.
| Date Taken: | 09.03.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 09.16.2024 07:29 |
| Story ID: | 479998 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 80 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
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