Further, easy access to space, even if you are talking very low orbits could let you do all sorts of things. According to Wikipedia the majority of satellites are in a Low Earth Orbit that takes around 90 minutes to circle the Earth. So have the General call up the Air Force's Space Command to tell them, "Ruritania has told the UN it won't give up the Q-Bomb factory it built with the Duchy of Grand Fenwick's assistance. We want don't want them to so much as open a window without our knowing." So space command flings an even ten satellites up.
Sure, they've been tosses into very low orbits that won't last more than a few weeks/months, but in the meantime every ten minutes we've got an eye passing over the facility. And that's just counting the passes by the new guys.
Heck, if your plan calls for tossing things into very low orbits then put them in a shell like a scaled down X37 (which is already basically a scaled down Shuttle). You can skimp a bit on radiation hardening because it isn't going to be up long (just throw in a little redundancy). Figure on putting things up for anywhere from weeks to a year, then pulling them back and gutting them. Keep what's still good, upgrade other bits, then send it back up.
Or go the other direction, don't bother making them recoverable and simply get a 'Good Enough' design that can be churned out on an assembly line. Which starts making me think of the article A Rocket A Day Keeps the High Costs Away
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Will the transhumanist future have catgirls? Does Japan still exist? Well, there is your answer.
Sure, they've been tosses into very low orbits that won't last more than a few weeks/months, but in the meantime every ten minutes we've got an eye passing over the facility. And that's just counting the passes by the new guys.
Heck, if your plan calls for tossing things into very low orbits then put them in a shell like a scaled down X37 (which is already basically a scaled down Shuttle). You can skimp a bit on radiation hardening because it isn't going to be up long (just throw in a little redundancy). Figure on putting things up for anywhere from weeks to a year, then pulling them back and gutting them. Keep what's still good, upgrade other bits, then send it back up.
Or go the other direction, don't bother making them recoverable and simply get a 'Good Enough' design that can be churned out on an assembly line. Which starts making me think of the article A Rocket A Day Keeps the High Costs Away
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Will the transhumanist future have catgirls? Does Japan still exist? Well, there is your answer.