Reply #23: I don't worry about space based weapons much.

[hunter]

Everything up there is incredibly fragile. The kinetic energies are such that any complex weapon system could be taken out with a handful of sand or a wad of crumpled up newspaper.

Any existing satellite that's still maneuverable can be turned into a missile of incredible force. And a small satellite designed as a weapon, maybe posing as something innocuous, could easily destroy someone's "Death Star."

Star wars is stupid. Nobody is going to attack your battle cruiser up close and slow. Your enemies are going to hit you with something very small, very cheap, going very very fast. You won't even see it coming.