Orbital Weapon Platform

An Orbital Weapons Platform is any artificial satellite equipped with weapons of mass destruction, in orbit around an inhabited planet or suspended above a flat world. They are divisible broadly by function.

Military Deterrent/Tyranny

This kind of O.W.P. is put into place with its weapons toward the ground. In the event of any misbehavior on the part of the inhabitants (or disobedience to the authority), these weapons can be fired, and some chosen target destroyed instantly. Such targets include cities, landmarks, or patches of open ground. The Origin Satellite is an example.

Planetary Defense

This kind of O.W.P. is put into place with its weapons toward the sky. In the event of an incoming meteorite (or an invasion by aliens), these weapons can be fired, and some chosen target destroyed instantly. Such targets include meteorites, hostile missiles, and invading spaceships.

Armament

Any kind of projectile can be part of an O.W.P.: the range extends from tiny pellet-shot (which, in vacuo, can tear an invading spaceship open) to huge, powerful rockets and L.A.S.E.R.s. Particle-beam weapons and the like, tend to be expensive over the long run, and only maintained on a platform, in the midst of war.