The launch of the first SDI satellites led to a brief period of orbital dueling to accompany the political and military posturing on the Earth’s surface. Although Soviet Premier Yuri Andropov publicly declared an end to the IS program, US and Soviet satellites continued to spar with each other until the collapse of the Soviet Union.
In addition to orbital stations and armed satellites, both superpowers relied on conventional missiles to bolster their defenses against an attack from space. Known in military circles as ASATs, antisatellite weapon programs were usually piggybacked onto antiballistic missile (ABM) development, frequently using the same launch vehicles.
Initial development stalled in the 1960s when the electromagnetic pulse from a nuclear ASAT caused disruption across a wide area of the Pacific, but after 1972 ASAT development assumed a new urgency with Earth thrown onto a defensive footing. Since that time several countries have developed an ASAT capability, most notably China, India, and Israel, which arguably has the most to fear from a Nazi attack on Earth.
The collapse of the Soviet Union severely disrupted the Russian space program, although several Soviet initiatives continued. The Mir space station remained operational, and the SH-11 “Gorgon” ABM was deployed around Moscow along with other defenses such as the 53T6 “Gazelle” system.
In the United States, the lander from Project Horizon developed into the Space Shuttle, which was instrumental in deploying a network of military and civilian satellites that covered the entire globe. According to leaked Department of Defense documents, the satellites of the Global Positioning System (GPS) include a classified module codenamed SID (Space Intruder Detector) that watches for incoming threats including missiles, asteroids — and presumably, though this is never openly stated, Nazi saucers. The SID system is patched into the secret network of SDI hunter-killer satellites, and controlled both from the ground and from the International Space Station.
Launched in 1998 and expanded several times, the International Space Station (ISS) began as a US/Russian cooperation after the Skylab and Mir stations became obsolete. The European, Canadian, and Japanese Space Agencies have also contributed modules, and astronauts from several other countries have served tours of duty aboard.
In addition to its scientific work, the ISS continues to serve as the primary command and control center for Earth’s orbital defenses. Each member nation also maintains a backup control center: Houston, Texas; Baikonur, Kazakhstan; Kourou, French Guiana; Saint-Hubert, Quebec; Tanegashima, Japan; and Harwell, England.
In 2004, President George W. Bush proposed an American moonbase by 2020, but the idea quickly evaporated after initial cost estimates. Some observers believe that Bush wanted to capitalize on the early success of Operation Iraqi Freedom and bring the war against Walhalla into the open; others claim that the almost instant dismissal of the project was part of a cover-up organized by the US military and intelligence communities after Bush accidentally came perilously close to exposing the existence of Walhalla, which has been classified Above Top Secret for almost 70 years.
Since 1990, more nations have joined in the effort to monitor the Walhalla base and protect the Earth from future attacks. Results have varied.
In 1990 the Japanese Hagoromo orbiter was quickly neutralized, despite a highly elliptical orbit that left it vulnerable only during brief passes. Its transmitter was knocked out, probably by a Röntgenkanone or Kugelblitz- derived weapon. In 2007 the SELENE project placed three satellites in elliptical orbits around the Moon, transmitting data back to the Tanegashima Space Center. Despite heavier shielding than the Hagoromo, the SELENE mission’s Kayuga main orbiter crashed into the lunar surface in 2009 after suffering control problems. The Okina relay satellite was brought down a few days later. A similar fate was suffered by the European Space Agency’s SMART-1 orbiter in 2006 after three years of observations, and India’s Chandrayaan-1 probe after just ten months. These three shootdowns, of small satellites (3.5–5 feet each side) at distances of 60 miles or more, have led some commentators to express dismay at the frightening precision of Walhalla’s long-range defensive weapons; others suggest that all were lucky shots, finally hitting their targets after months of trying.
In 2007, China launched its own Moon probe, Chang’e 1. About four times the size of Okina and SMART-1, it was brought down 15 months after entering lunar orbit. The Chang’e 2 remained in lunar orbit for nine months before leaving the Moon for other objectives, and seems to have escaped unscathed.
In December 2013, the Chang’e 3 lander touched down across the Mare Imbrium from Walhalla and deployed the Yutu rover. At some time during the next lunar night (December 26–January 11), however, the rover suffered unspecified mechanical damage and has been unable to move since, stranded less than 165 feet from the lander. It is uncertain whether the damage is coincidental, as the China National Space Administration claims, or whether Yutu was intentionally immobilized by scouts sent from Walhalla to investigate the lander. The launch dates for the Chang’e 4 and Chang’e 5 missions have since been postponed from 2015 and 2017 to “before 2020.”
Meanwhile, Russia’s planned Luna-Glob project aims to put more rovers on the Moon, perhaps for reconnaissance purposes. Although Yutu was disabled within a few days of landing, some schools of thought believe that a small, fast-moving rover, able to take advantage of ground cover, may be able to recover more information at closer range than an orbiter.
The X-37 unmanned space-plane flew its first test mission in April 2010. Almost immediately, the US Air Force ordered a modified version, known as the X-37B. In a classified program, this was developed into the MQ-14 Lunar Hawk, a drone attack vehicle.
Emboldened by the success of drone strikes as a strategy in the War on Terror, the US Air Force began developing a secret lunar drone strategy in 2008. The first attack on Walhalla took place at 4pm Eastern Standard Time (10pm Central European Time) on May 8, 2015: 70 years to the minute from the signing of Germany’s unconditional surrender in Berlin.