SatCom array NW-05a

SatCom Array NW-05a is a satellite communications array, part of the SatCom array in the northwest of the Capital Wasteland. It is located further west of NN-03d, between Fort Constantine and the MDPL-05 Power Station.

Background
NW-05a is populated by members of the Talon Company and a ghoul scientist. On the scientist's body you will find three notes. The two SatCom Array Coordinates will mark the other two SatCom arrays on your map when used with the computer at the top of the tower. The third holotape will activate "Highwater Trousers", an orbital micro-nuclear weapons platform (basically a satellite armed with nuclear missiles that can hit targets on the ground) that will drop several small tactical nuclear missiles around the tower. The scientist's notes indicate that while the orbital platform's missile payload is still intact, the rotors which change the targeting position of the array need to be replaced. There does not appear to be a replacement component at any other array.

Layout
The SatCom Array's interior opens into a large room with a staircase that leads up to a second floor with nothing notable. The stairs also lead to a small alcove with a ladder. Climbing the ladder will bring you onto the satellite dish at the top of the array.

Notable loot

 * Chinese Army: Special Ops Training Manual found near a terminal towards the left upon entering at the ground level.

Appearances
The SatCom Array NW-05a appears only in Fallout 3.

Behind the scenes

 * While the name itself is not a real world link, the station is: Highwater Trousers is a FOBS, a Fractional Orbital Bombardment System. These systems were originally developed by the Russians in the 1960s, banned by international treaty (which banned weapons in space) and evolved into the silo-launched versions, though only a variant of the R-36 "city buster" was fielded before the SALT II treaty explicitly banned such weapons. The theory (and fear) was that such weapons could be put into orbit indefinitely and launch their payloads from any distance, and any direction, even through holes in the enemy's early warning defense systems. The Highwater Trousers satellite could also reference a related weapons system developed by the US, which involved orbiting weapons clusters operating like the Minuteman silos do on the ground. This idea was echoed decades later in some of the Star Wars defense concepts.
 * It's also possible that the ghouls' implied plan (to void the United States' orbital nuclear arsenal), is a reference to the canceled Van Buren project, the plot of which involved a scientist using the United States' orbital nuclear arsenal to purge the wasteland.

Bugs

 * Even though the ghoul scientist is shown as "hostile" on your compass, pickpocketing her (whether simply stealing or planting an explosive) will result in negative karma.