There is however a machine that is ground based that shoots a laser beam.
"...the National Ignition Facility – home to the world’s largest laser – just did when it pulled the trigger on 192 beams of optically amplified, electromagnetic radiation-emitting light, all fired within a few trillionths of a second of each other, to deliver 500 trillion watts (or terawatts) of “peak power” and 1.85 megajoules of ultraviolet laser light.
Framed in more eye-catching terms: The NIF says 500 terawatts outpaces the entire U.S. for power used “at any instant in time,” and that 1.85 megajoules amounts to roughly 100 times what any other laser produces regularly. No wonder those two power unit prefixes (tera, mega) come from Greek words meaning “monster” and “great.” Then again, what else would you expect from a laser housed in a building the size of three football fields, or a science lab with a word like “ignition” in its moniker?"
-CNN
There is however a machine that is ground based that shoots a laser beam. "...the National Ignition Facility – home to the world’s largest laser – just did when it pulled the trigger on 192 beams of optically amplified, electromagnetic radiation-emitting light, all fired within a few trillionths of a second of each other, to deliver 500 trillion watts (or terawatts) of “peak power” and 1.85 megajoules of ultraviolet laser light.
Framed in more eye-catching terms: The NIF says 500 terawatts outpaces the entire U.S. for power used “at any instant in time,” and that 1.85 megajoules amounts to roughly 100 times what any other laser produces regularly. No wonder those two power unit prefixes (tera, mega) come from Greek words meaning “monster” and “great.” Then again, what else would you expect from a laser housed in a building the size of three football fields, or a science lab with a word like “ignition” in its moniker?" -CNN