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| Alpha prototype: stacked cylindrical rings of nozzles
used for reactant mixing, higher laser power is achieved by stacking more rings.
From FAS. Demonstrated megawatt class power levels in 1991. |
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| Large Advanced Mirror Program (LAMP).
lightweight, segmented 4 m diameter mirror 17 mm thick bonded to actuators mounted on graphite epoxy (1989).
From FAS
The Large Optical Segment (LOS) program has since produced a 10 meter class mirror segment,
the dimensions required for an effective SBL. |
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Acquisition, Tracking, Pointing (ATP)
- 1985 : Talon Gold successfully operated sub-scale versions of separate pointing and tracking apertures, illuminator, inertial reference gyro system, fire control mode logic, sensors and trackers.
- 1991 : Space-borne Relay Mirror Experiment (RME), relayed low-power laser beam from ground to orbit and back down successfully.
- 1993 : Rapid Retargeting and Precision Pointing program (R2P2)
- 1995 : Space Pointing Integrated Controls Experiment (SPICE)
- 1998 : High Altitude Balloon Experiment (HABE) (Phillips-Laboratory) demonstrate key ATP-Fire Control (FC) against ballistic missiles.
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| SBL Diagram.
From FAS |
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| SBL firing on missile.
From FAS |
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| Black and white image of SBL.
From FAS |
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| SBL firing on missile - notice the vacuum exhaust ports.
From FAS (see larger image) |
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| Version of SBL which looks like HST.
From FAS (see larger image) |
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| Version of SBL with external laser fuel tanks.
From FAS (see larger image) |
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| SBL with highly mobile beam director.
From FAS (see larger image) |
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| Plot of number of lasers versus missile hardness for 10 kJ cm2 missiles, curve for 60 and 90 seconds.
From Missile defense in modern war by Gregory H. Canavan (equations in Appendix B are very instructive) |
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| Half-size mirror ground based demonstrator for Lockheed Martin's Large Advanced Mirror Program (LAMP).
From Jane's Defence Weekly
`TRW: heading up the space race'. |
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| Diagram of laser and mirror/beam control assembly.
A large mirror expands the beam to overcome significant degradation by diffraction over the very long optical path to the missile.
The optical assembly also tracks the missile and directs the beam to focus on a single point.
From How the Space based laser works, Popular Science |
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| Illustration of several SBL lasers firing at a missile.
From Return to Star Wars, by Frank Vizard, Popular Science |
