>>> The Cedar-8 rocket had nearly hit a British naval cruiser in the Mediterranean.
It seems they had no way to know where these things would land, or if they did, had no way to communicate to state actors of hazard zones ?
I'd love to know more.
>>> "By 1965, I realised that the Lebanese military’s interest had changed from scientific research for peaceful exploration of space, to rockets as an instrument of war.”
Due dilligence applies to all endeavors. Accepting VC money, or accepting government money, it still requires some work.
sidewndr46 · 20m ago
You generally send out a NOTAM to inform pilots about this sort of thing. I'm unsure if there exists an equivalent mechanism in the international maritime communities to inform ships in the area.
IG_Semmelweiss · 10m ago
That's if you are an-FAA like entity. But what about a ragtag group of scientists putting objects in the sky, with no access to airport operations or govt sanction ?
shayway · 1h ago
Fascinating! Space programs post ~1970 are one thing, but they reached orbit by 1963! That would make them third in the world after USSR and US. I'm surprised I haven't heard of this before - I'll definitely be watching the documentary mentioned here, "The Lebanese Rocket Society".
I don't care for the writing of this article though, a bit fluffy and scant on information. And does anyone know what this is referring to?
> The Lebanese Army and what remained of the Rocket Society would go on to launch another rocket, the Cedar-10, and western powers decisively stepped in to end Lebanon’s experiment once and for all.
rbanffy · 54m ago
> and western powers decisively stepped in to end Lebanon’s experiment
Western powers always stop countries before they get the ability to make reliable ICBMs. Brazil was making some good progress on their satellite launcher, but I believe there US wasn't too happy the rocket used solid fuels, and solid fuel rockets, as we all know, are excellent for ICBMs because they can be launched as soon as they are pointing up-ish.
So, the lesson is to not make something with obvious military applications, because only big kids can have these toys, and your factories tend to explode (as if rockets themselves weren't already dangerous by themselves) if you continue.
shayway · 36m ago
I understand the reasoning, what I'm curious about is what 'decisively stepping in' means in this case.
> The Lebanese Army and what remained of the Rocket Society would go on to launch another rocket, the Cedar-10, and western powers decisively stepped in to end Lebanon’s experiment once and for all. The Rocket Society was disbanded and the program shut down.
I did some searching around but I can't find any information on what it might be referring to.
sidewndr46 · 11m ago
Oh in that case it is even simpler. Instead of "western powers" just say "Mossad". They hunt and kill anyone who attempts to help nations which could potentially be hostile to Israel gain more advanced weapons. Territorial boundaries don't apply in that circumstance. Participating in a rocket program like this is the equivalent of signing your own death certificate.
It seems they had no way to know where these things would land, or if they did, had no way to communicate to state actors of hazard zones ?
I'd love to know more.
>>> "By 1965, I realised that the Lebanese military’s interest had changed from scientific research for peaceful exploration of space, to rockets as an instrument of war.”
Due dilligence applies to all endeavors. Accepting VC money, or accepting government money, it still requires some work.
I don't care for the writing of this article though, a bit fluffy and scant on information. And does anyone know what this is referring to?
> The Lebanese Army and what remained of the Rocket Society would go on to launch another rocket, the Cedar-10, and western powers decisively stepped in to end Lebanon’s experiment once and for all.
Western powers always stop countries before they get the ability to make reliable ICBMs. Brazil was making some good progress on their satellite launcher, but I believe there US wasn't too happy the rocket used solid fuels, and solid fuel rockets, as we all know, are excellent for ICBMs because they can be launched as soon as they are pointing up-ish.
So, the lesson is to not make something with obvious military applications, because only big kids can have these toys, and your factories tend to explode (as if rockets themselves weren't already dangerous by themselves) if you continue.
one of the deadliest space related disasters
> The Lebanese Army and what remained of the Rocket Society would go on to launch another rocket, the Cedar-10, and western powers decisively stepped in to end Lebanon’s experiment once and for all. The Rocket Society was disbanded and the program shut down.
I did some searching around but I can't find any information on what it might be referring to.