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weapons? Recent advances in lasers, optics, and spacecraft technologies may bring high-energy laser weapons to a sufficient level of maturity for serious consideration as space weapons against the theater ballistic missile threat. However, these technological advances also make other architectures possible, such as the use of terrestrial laser sources with space-based relay mirrors or a mixed force of space-based lasers with orbiting relay mirrors. An important question is how these dramatic technology improvements have affected the strategic employment concepts for high-energy laser weapons. This study presents a comparison of competing space-based architectures given the progress made with high-energy lasers, large optics, and atmospheric compensation techniques within the past several years. Three space-based architectures are evaluated against the potential ballistic missile threat: space-based lasers, ground-based lasers in conjunction with orbiting mirrors, and a combined approach using space-based lasers with orbiting mirrors. The study evaluates the technological risks and estimates the development and deployment costs. In addition, technology development programs are described for each of the architectures so that the high-risk areas will be better understood. The conclusion of this study is that the most technologically sound and cost-effective architecture is to use space-based lasers with orbiting mirrors. This approach not only minimizes the overall technological risk but also reduces the total weight and, therefore, cost of placing these weapon systems on orbit. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

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