[Magnum44]

A low earth orbiting platform as moving at about 27000 miles per hour. Mach number takes on strange meaning or no meaning when there is little or no atmosphere (need air for sound, therefore speed of sound reference). But if you deorbit into the atmosphere, that 27000 mph very rapidly gets slowed to 100 to 300 mph (maybe 450) depending on shape and mass, before it hits the ground. That’s just frictional drag.

[Born to Conserve]

Very high density (tungsten), very low cross section (long and skiny), and a very steep descent (the atmosphere is only ‘thick’ near the ground), and you could have ridiculous velocity and energy on the target. What you cannot have, is stealth. There would be terrifying incandescence, there would be a massive contrail of black smoke, and there would be a very loud bank or two — it would be like....a meteor!

[spokeshave2]

Daredevil "Felix Baumgartner" ascended to the "edge of space" in a pressurized capsule from 128,000 feet from his balloon, free-falling for nearly four and a half minutes, breaking the sound barrier at about 1,000 mph before activating his parachute.

Tungsten rods are pointy....low air frictional drag.