What are the best weapons in space?

Fighting in space is probably one of the most important plot ideas in science fiction. Think Star Wars and Star Trek. They make it look easy in the movies, but what would be the most effective weapons in space?

According to Space.com, the top ten space weapons are (in reverse order): Missiles; Darpa; THEL; Cosmic satellites; Almaz Space Station; MOL; ICBM; X-37B; High altitude weapons; Manipulating an orbiting asteroid.
These weapons are specifically designed to knock out orbiting weapons. Darpa is the use of electromagnets to shoot a stream of molten metal. THEL is a directed weapon using lasers or high-powered microwaves. A Cosmic satellite is a sacrificial or parasitic satellite. The Soviet Union's Almaz space station had a cannon. MOL stands for Manned Orbital Laboratory, a program that was cancelled. ICBM is an intercontinental ballistic missile. The X-37B is a secret robotic space plane. High altitude weapons would use electromagnetic energy or EMP to destroy a satellite. Manipulating an orbiting satellite involves changing its course to collide with a satellite.

Let's consider some of these for spacecraft battles in space. The obvious idea is to use a powerful laser weapon to punch holes through the hull of an enemy craft. The Air Force is already working on this idea and has tested laser weapons that could do that job.

A missile is another good idea. Missiles could be launched and then guided to the target. A nuclear missile could do damage at close range but not so much further away because the compression wave doesn't travel well through a vacuum. It will require getting it as close as possible in order to literally vaporize the target.

An electromagnetic rail gun is another good idea. The military is already experimenting with these weapons. Using magnetic energy, they are capable of accelerating a metallic object to over 5000 miles per hour. That's going to cause real damage. The Navy has already demonstrated this. The good news with this weapon is that an explosive warhead isn't required. The high velocity is capable of doing the necessary damage, and the range isn't bad either--100 miles.

A rail gun uses pulsed electrical power (1 million amps or more) to create a moving magnetic pulse that can drive a projectile to speeds of thousands of meters per second. This is not a new idea. It's concept that dates back to a French inventor in the early 20th century, and the math has already been worked out.

The drawbacks to this type of weapon are inability to fire multiple shots quickly and inability to guide the projectile. Nothing's perfect.

The other great weapon in space is based on using plasma, which is the fourth state of matter. As it turns out the military is already experimenting on this type of weapon. As you might know, plasma is ionized hot gas. Making this type of weapon work effectively is not going to be easy. The current theory employs a dynamic pulse detonation scheme. Basically, a packet of gas is ionized using a laser pulse and then detonated using a second laser pulse. The current range is a mere 100 meters, but I'm sure with time this will be extended.

So, the bottom line is that the weapons you see in science fiction will be used in the future. They're already being worked on. Maybe we'll have them ready when the bad aliens come to invade us.

Thanks for reading.