For decades, scientists and engineers have attempted to intercept incoming missiles through pure kinetic energy. While these efforts have never been fully successful, they have influenced international politics a great deal. In this episode, Aditya Ramanathan and Pranav R Satyanath talk about the evolution of Kinetic Kill Vehicles since the Cold War and how this technology has come to space today’s nuclear arms race.
Suggested readings:
- Mutually assured surveillance at risk: Anti-satellite weapons and cold war arms control by Aaron Bateman
- Keeping the Technological Edge: The Space Arms Race and Anglo-American Relations in the 1980s by Aaron Bateman
- Discussing Orbital Dangers: How States Negotiated in the UN’s OEWG on Reducing Space Threats by Pranav R Satyanath
