Space mine

Space mines are explosive devices used to guard a ship, satellite, station or region of space from enemy attack. Most space mines are triggered by proximity and will detonate when an unwelcome obstruction comes too close to it. Most space mines carry an explosive detonation charge, but some may also be equipped with fragmentary explosives, designed to expel shranel that may be able to penetrate shields and rupture bulkheads or hulls of passing ships. Most who choose to employ mines will use more than one and are careful to cover a sizable expanse of space, close enough to ward off possible attackers, but also distant enough so that the radius of the explosion is outside the range of the protected area.

On the TV series Babylon 5, the Centauri agricultural station in orbit around Ragesh III was protected by space mines, but these proved insuffient against a wave of attacking Narn heavy cruisers.