The ASAT potential of high-energy lasers has been extensively explored by the US and to a lesser degree by the USSR. As many as 30 states may already have the capability to use low-power lasers to degrade unhardened sensors on satellites. In 1997, the US Mid-Infrared Advanced Chemical Laser (MIRACL) was test-fired against a satellite in a 420-kilometer orbit, damaging the satellite's sensors. Reportedly, it was not the mega-watt MIRACL laser, but a 30-watt laser used for alignment that actually damaged the target satellite's sensors. This suggests that even a commercially available low-watt laser could be used to 'dazzle,' or temporarily disrupt, a satellite functioning from the ground.

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Cowan-Sharp, Jessy, Robert Lawson et al. Space Security Index 2004. Waterloo, Ontario: Space Security Index, June 2005. [ 13 quotes ] [ page 128 ]