"Following the fire started in the KACST Construction Bay, and the repairs made to it, we have decided to move forward with the project openly.
Thanks to former Lead Engineer Fahad Hazazi the world knows what we were really intending to put into space. What we were working on was a kinetic bombardment weapon, not a surveillance satellite.
We still intend to build and launch this weapon. As you know, ISIS is a growing threat in the region and in the world, willing to use children as disposable bomb carriers. We must stop at nothing in order do defeat them and stop the suffering for those stuck in ISIS held areas.
We intended to build this weapon in secret to be used as a last resort against ISIS. The intended use has not changed.
We intend to launch the satellite in mid 2018."
[M] some additional info on it
Based on what I'm finding it would take about $300m USD to build a satellite and an additional $100m to have it launched. The materials for the weapon would cost an additional $10m. So the full cost would be about $410m.
The weapon will be loaded with ten 0.3 meter by 6.1 meter tungsten rods.
There's no way to reload the weapon.
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[–] Robot1501 ago
We thank Saudi Arabia for allowing the US Air Force onto the program. However, a weapon with this much power must have safeguards. We must cooperate on a deployment system so that they aren't used excessively or unnecessarily.
[–] WarNeverChanges [S] ago (edited ago)
Of course. This was taken into account with the weapon's design: only ten uses before it is useless and no way to reload the weapon. Should all ten rods be used, another nearly half billion dollar mission as well as the time required to construct a new one before the weapon could be used another time.
Saudi Arabia would not be against a launch mechanism that required multiple countries all to agree on a target and to fire for the weapon to be used, however. And Saudi Arabia is open to further suggestions to improve the security of the weapon as well as improve the way it is handled.