dennis@home wrote:
"Anthony Frost" wrote in message
...

Both ideas have been discussed and work. The military *are*
interested in using ground based lasers to illuminate solar panels
on their satellites.

Do you really think military satellites rely on solar power and
batteries? Why do you think they have booster rockets to get rid of
them when they are end of life?

I do think that 90%+ of them use solar power and batteries because that
is how they work. They have "booster rockets" as you call them to make
sure they re-enter in a destructive manner over a nice wide bit of sea
rather than take a chance of bits landing relatively intact over hostile
territory.

The very few that rely on any form of nuclear power, which is what I'm
guessing you think is involved, are carrying high power radar and have
enough trouble with drag from the large antenna panels without adding
huge solar panels. They are also almost exclusively Russian, the US has
never orbited a working reactor so far and tries to avoid RTGs for
political reasons, and they've managed to drop one on Canada and one on
South America by accident when end of life orbit changes have taken
place in the wrong direction.

Anthony, MBIS