/sci/ - Science & Math

>>14493408
>U.N. guidelines also permitted the U.S. to pursue its own strategy for the defense of its citizen’s interests in deep space. Because they had a technological edge over peer competitors in the area of directed energy, they developed a concept of deterrence, by very publicly placing two laser weapons in orbit around Mars, purely for defensive purposes. The two weapon systems continuously covered the asteroid belt. Without an atmosphere and in the frozen depths of space near Mars, 2 Gigawatt lasers, produced by beam combining nearly 200 independently generated laser beams into a 2 Megajoule, 1s blast of power were a technical possibility. Such powerful laser weapons are only possible in laboratories on Earth— working in space had benefits.
>”Neil, I know that this means taking on risk, but if you go for Asteroid 6107, or any asteroid in the belt and they try to block you or take any hostile action, we will protect you. Beyond that maybe you should hire your own space security staff. We aren’t China. You own your company and that is a good thing! That’s why you are digging billions of dollars of profit yearly out of those asteroids. While you pay taxes, you also breathe our air, drink our water, and benefit from our power grid. And yes, if a foreign power makes an aggressive move toward you, we have your six. But we are not your security staff. The code of combat in space only allows us to respond proportionally with aggression to anyone who is actually trying to hurt you or your property.”
>Because time is money, Neil Cover continued with his planned launch that night. The Deep Space Resources RQ-12 rocket launched carrying a robotic mining craft off the Martian planes, propelling it on a trajectory toward Asteroid 6107.