10 Most-Terrifying Space Weapons

8. Anti-Satellite Weapons

Anti-satellite weapons basically serve exactly the purpose their name suggests - to incapacitate and destroy satellites orbiting the Earth.

Although various forms of this weapon have been developed by many nations down the years - including the US, the USSR, China and India - the most common is the "directed-energy weapon" (DEW). DEWs emit highly-focused energy at a target with the intention of damaging or disabling it.

The energy used could be electromagnetic radiation, particle-beam weapons, or indeed through sonic rays. The US even blew up one of its own satellites in 2008 due to the fact it was decaying from orbit at a rate of 500metres per day - so the government fired an RIM-161 Standard Missile 3 ABM at it.

Although successful, this and various other examples have convinced most nations not to use anti-satellite weapons because the resulting debris left in space tends to be substantial.