I know that the shootdown of the non-functioning spy satellite was almost two months ago, but details are still surfacing, and somehow I can’t seem to get enough of this story. The Arizona Daily Star has an in-depth story with full background, and a video from the Department of Defense that tracks the missile from the Navy ship it was fired from all the way to impact in space.
The video is fascinating because it clearly shows the track of the satellite from Earth to space, and appears to be captured from only a few sensors as the frames are fairly seamless. I’m intrigued by the capabilities of both the Aegis missile defense system and the sensors that tracked this high-speed intercept.
The Arizona Star reporter spoke at length to Raytheon representatives that were involved in this mission.
“A lot of the work we do is based in modeling and simulation,” said Frank Wyatt, Raytheon’s vice president of naval-weapons systems. But “the amount of engineering and rigor that people put in is eye-watering.”
