The wheel-shaped laser satellite.

 

The wheel-shaped laser satellite. 

But then we can think another version of the free-electron laser, which might be very impressive. The idea of this kind of system is that the middle laser is quite small or short. Energy to the central laser would be pumped by using the other lasers, and that kind of system can make more powerful rays than the regular lasers. 

The form of the system is the wheel or the small-size cyclotron where electrons are curving. The light would be conducted in the middle of the wheel, and then the system can send the laser ray to the target. Sometimes the wheel-form laser satellite has been introduced one version of the killer-satellite, and it can send extremely powerful rays to the target. 

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Free-electron lasers 

What makes free-electron lasers interesting? The free-electron laser is the particle accelerator, where the electron is traveling with a curving trajectory. The curving movement makes the electron release the photon, and that makes this system an effective laser for many purposes. 

But the problem is that the powerful free-electron lasers are very large tools because the system requires the long linear accelerator. If we would send that particle accelerator to the orbiting trajectory, the free-electron laser can be made by using the telescope-structure. 

In this case, the structure of the particle accelerator will be the push in the small size like a telescopic baton, and when the rocket is in the trajectory, the particle accelerator will be open to full length. Of course, the gas lasers like carbon monoxide lasers can blow in the full length by using pressurized gas, but the thing is that the free-electron lasers are less sensitive for leaks and impacts than the gas-lasers. 

Gas-lasers can also send outside the atmosphere

The thing in free-electron lasers is that they are also operating in the larger temperature areas, and that means that the extremely low temperature doesn't make the laser non-operational. The problem with gas lasers is that the gas would be frozen in ice, in the temperature, what are near zero kelvin. This thing happens on the night side of the Earth when satellite orbits Earth outside the atmosphere. And in extreme heat at the dayside of the Earth, the rising pressure would cause problems. 

And that makes systems like gas lasers more complicated than free-electron lasers. But the thing is that if we would send the gas laser to the orbiter we can send by packed to small size, and then blow the gas in it. And this means that the gas lasers would be more flexible systems than the solid laser systems, which cannot push in small size in the launch. 

Image: https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20130121-worth-the-weight