"Rods from God": The Strange Super Space Weapon that Wasn't Pointed rods, around twenty or thirty feet long and several feet in diameter, would have been sent into space via rocket and housed on satellites, where they would then be dropped onto hardened targets like underground bunkers. Here's What You Need To Remember: One beneficial side effect of the weapon - and similar kinetic weapons - was that there would not be any explosive ordinance left over to cause problems later. Normally bombers drop explosive ordnance onto targets: conventional or nuclear. These two payloads, as detailed below, however, were neither—though that didn’t make them any less destructive.