A plain tungsten rod the size of a telephone with no maneuvering thrusters or engine would weigh almost 25000 by itself
Motors/engine would absolutely be required as that much mass would be impossible to accurately aim without an expoentially heavier launch vehicle
The cost of getting that into stable orbit without it being obviously visible and still operation would be beyond reason
"A plain tungsten rod the size of a telephone with no maneuvering thrusters or engine would weigh almost 25000 by itself"
I wonder how much punch a 500 or 1,000 pound rod might have, compared to a conventional bomb, if it could get to mach six or ten? Or even 16,000 mph, like the HTV-2 test vehicle did a decade ago?
Even a 100 pound sabot at those speeds might pack a lot of energy and penetration ability.
They might even fill it with depleted uranium, to increase its mass to cross section ratio, as folks have done for decades with hypersonic anti-tank kinetic energy penetrators.
