Poor African Country Announces "Imminent Launch Of 5 Satellites And Telescope" - Reaction?

The scenario:

The leaders of a struggling poor African country hastily call an international press conference.

In this conference, the President follows international protocol and law by announcing that tomorrow at 1100 GMT, there will be a launch of 5 communication satellites and one large telescope. He claims the country has been working on building them secretly. (But the world is well aware of no historical tests - missile or otherwise - taking place.)

What would your reaction to this announcement be? What do you think the world's reaction to this announcement to this would be? How would the international community take it?



________________________________________________________________________________________________


[spoiler]

Additionally, as an aside:

Tomorrow (i.e. 19 June 2013) at 1100 GMT, this poor African country then goes and actually launches five satellites and telescope in its backyard from intriguing "mobile launchers". The satellites and the telescope then go into successful orbit and are functioning impeccably. They are up to the standard of even the very best US communications satellites (and the telescope is shockingly found to be up to the standard of "Hubble"!).

With this in mind, what would your reaction now be? How would we as humans take this? How would the international community take this news?

[/spoiler]

They'd likely assume they colluded with Iran, and hustle to get them to sign a nonproliferation treaty. The UN may impose sanctions unless they can show how and where they got the tech and funding, especially if UN members were providing aid. If they were, then they'll assume the ruling regime funneled money from relief efforts and again, impose sanctions, or even call for him to step down. We'd park a carrier off their coast too.

Ability to launch satellites = ability to launch an ICBM. Therefore, the nation would be treated as a potential nuclear power, whether or not they had any current nuclear plans. Since these facilities were secret, the assumption will be any nuclear ones could be also. This would be a real mess for such a nation.

About the same reaction I would have to Winged Pigs gliding through the Ether...



If however you are trying to insinuate that space travel, and launching satellites is cheap, easy, and affordable, that every expensive launch that has been done is a swindle...I will not be holding my breath.

Sounds like the Zambian Space Program:

www.cnn.com...

No offence op but this is a pointless thread with misleading title.. gets frustrating sometimes wasting time on these type of threads.

My reaction is mixed.

I wont go the knee jerk reaction route.


I can see a program like this creating jobs in the Hi Tec industry.

On the other hand maybe they should concentrate on low tec jobs first.


But then jobs are jobs.


Its a difficult one.

I might suspect Russia was involved. No other country has the engineering expertise to launch and operate something as heavy and as sophisticated as a space telescope. Maybe Russia and Japan collaborating but that's highly unlikely.

I believe Russia and China both have the launch vehicle payload capacity.

Land Mobile launchers and heavy payloads? Someone is smoking crack.

reply to post by misscurious

No offence op but this is a pointless thread with misleading title.. gets frustrating sometimes wasting time on these type of threads.

You seriously don't know these are all going to be "what if" threads going into it?
Click on the OP's profile and thread list. Every single thread is such a "what if".

Ordinarily, I'd call shenanigans, and put it down to star-mongering, but since they are actually kind of interesting topics (and they are in Chit Chat), I'm not dinging. Still OP, may not hurt to put a "What If" in the title to avoid this kind of response.

Originally posted by Gazrok
reply to post by misscurious

 

No offence op but this is a pointless thread with misleading title.. gets frustrating sometimes wasting time on these type of threads.

You seriously don't know these are all going to be "what if" threads going into it?

Click on the OP's profile and thread list. Every single thread is such a "what if".

Ordinarily, I'd call shenanigans, and put it down to star-mongering, but since they are actually kind of interesting topics (and they are in Chit Chat), I'm not dinging. Still OP, may not hurt to put a "What If" in the title to avoid this kind of response.

edit on 18-6-2013 by Gazrok because: (no reason given)

Advice accepted and duly noted - at least you were polite and rational and intelligent enough in explaining, unlike that poster above.

My thanks to you, good sir!

I think first and foremost the world would see it as an utter disgrace, with headlines like, sort your countrys infrastructure out first, and feed the poor first, there would be endless articals in the news paper stating just how many school and hospitals the money could have built

Yeah it would be an utter disgrace

Originally posted by Gazrok
reply to post by misscurious

 

No offence op but this is a pointless thread with misleading title.. gets frustrating sometimes wasting time on these type of threads.

You seriously don't know these are all going to be "what if" threads going into it?

Click on the OP's profile and thread list. Every single thread is such a "what if".

Ordinarily, I'd call shenanigans, and put it down to star-mongering, but since they are actually kind of interesting topics (and they are in Chit Chat), I'm not dinging. Still OP, may not hurt to put a "What If" in the title to avoid this kind of response.

edit on 18-6-2013 by Gazrok because: (no reason given)

I was just about to say, we should give this guy his own "what if" forum.
That might be a good idea.
What if every thread started with what if

It does not surprise me they use our aid money to fund their pockets. Even their king was hiding the money from their people and more are dying from starvation and poverty. If this is true I think its time to stop sending financial aid to them.

Originally posted by Sk8ergrl
It does not surprise me they use our aid money to fund their pockets. Even their king was hiding the money from their people and more are dying from starvation and poverty. If this is true I think its time to stop sending financial aid to them.

Well I think financial aid should be given under condition they buy products from the country that sent it.

That way you can control what they buy and the money goes back into our economys.

Originally posted by dashen


I was just about to say, we should give this guy his own "what if" forum.
That might be a good idea.
What if every thread started with what if

I truly would not mind this - indeed, I am entirely open to this idea!

reply to post by Gazrok


Gazrok, chap - will you be taking up that suggestion of that other poster? In other words, is it possible for you to set up a "What If" forum or some forum or sub-forum called "Way Off-Topic Chat" or something?

reply to post by HomoSapiensSapiens


so thats what they've been doing with all the charity money

Originally posted by Tlexlapoca
reply to post by HomoSapiensSapiens

 

so thats what they've been doing with all the charity money

"Charities" are themselves "for-profit" and charitable donation from non-African governments to African governments are just plain silly. It's quite disingenuous to give aid to corrupt governments and entities. Who's dumber - the African leaders or the ones giving them aid to horde and be corrupt with???

Dude, I am seriously beginnig to believe you have a nefarious purpose with these "What If" threads!

My last responce to them.

Well they must have had no shortage of onkeys to try the rocket with....probably launched the test vehicle on the weekends when the NSAS dudes all go surfing....
After all, nobody would be flying spy birds over such a poor target would they?
I am sure there will be those whose cries of Alien Assistance would reach heaven, but perhaps the poor nation merely hacked the directions for the new space vehicle Nasa is building......
Oh right theyre not............

Originally posted by dashen
I was just about to say, we should give this guy his own "what if" forum.
That might be a good idea.
What if every thread started with what if

I just scared myself.

Oo