A good payload:
But using a 150 meter wide dish that was going to also be used for radio astronomy:


The 5 meter cube of water for a calorimeter a good first payload for Starship…cheap and inert.
 

"There are hard kill and soft kill capabilities, if you will, that we're funding," Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said with regards to offensive space capabilities, but none that would created dangerous space debris.​

To me that seems to says "lasers", or that's the only hard kill option I can think of that doesn't create space debris, at least not much.
 

"There are hard kill and soft kill capabilities, if you will, that we're funding," Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said with regards to offensive space capabilities, but none that would created dangerous space debris.​

To me that seems to says "lasers", or that's the only hard kill option I can think of that doesn't create space debris, at least not much.

So, Kendall seems pretty vague and I would not read hard va soft as precise terms.

High-power microwave might count as a hard kill here. It's "non-kinetic" in terrestrial terms, but frying the insides of a satellite is a pretty hard kill in space.

Or maybe neutral particle beams? MDA officially gave up on those a couple of years ago as being too far-term but that was for missile defense. Satellites are potentially easier targets.
 

Following tomorrow's launch, those first ten satellites - eight of which are "transport layer" satellites and two of which are "tracking layer" satellites - will undergo calibration and their efficacy will also be evaluated with a series of tests.

Less relevant news.
 

Following tomorrow's launch, those first ten satellites - eight of which are "transport layer" satellites and two of which are "tracking layer" satellites - will undergo calibration and their efficacy will also be evaluated with a series of tests.
 
The phrase “full-spectrum operations” would indicate something with the ability to do both offensive and defensive operations if needed. While the Pentagon is always cautious about describing — or even acknowledging — that it has on-orbit capabilities that could damage or interfere with the space assets of other countries, the department has slowly become more open over the years about the fact that it is at least developing such systems.
 
 

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