The X-37b is everything you could want in an orbital surveillance, espionage and sabotage platform and it has existed for years…?
Hey @Burstar@sopuli.xyz by the way do you feel like an idiot for removing my comment about the X-37b for being irrelevant or a conspiracy theory on the Ukraine community yet? This is literally the most relevant technology to Ukraine that exists on earth (or in orbit) whether as aid denied, aid given or sabotage done given russia’s progression towards a Starlink alternative and you flippantly removed my attempts to bring the issue up with zero curiousity about your ignorance.
A good recent article on the x-37b
https://migflug.com/afterburner/fr/x-37b-space-force-mystery-spaceplane/
Officially, it tests reusable spacecraft technologies and carries experiments for the government. Unofficially, its knack for changing its orbit and vanishing from where trackers expect it has made it a favourite Cold-War-style headache for America’s rivals — a point a former Air Force secretary once made with unusual candour.
“It can do an orbit that looks like an egg, and when it’s close to the Earth it’s close enough to the atmosphere to turn where it is. Our adversaries don’t know where it’s going to come up next, and that drives them nuts. And I’m really glad about that.”
Heather Wilson — former U.S. Secretary of the Air Force (Aspen Security Forum, 2019)
Aren’t modern missiles and drones also able to adjust?
The absolute hardest thing to hit with a missile is a satellite that can arbitrarily change orbits without excessive fuel use (aerobreaking), i.e. a spaceplane. Is it possible? Of course, but it is 1000 times harder than a traditional satellite.