Could satellites achieve orbit using current laser technology My question is, could we, using current laser technology sufficiently scaled up, launch a lightweight, say a GPS navigation satellite, into earth orbit? The main objection to me is maintaining the accuracy of the beam and the diminishing power of the laser due to the atmosphere the beam passes through.
Another factor is the weight of the shield necessary to protect the vehicle from being damaged by the beam.
Anybody able to confirm / refute this, with supporting evidence or math proofs? 
 A: Rather than a definite answer, I can, at this stage, only present a partial collection of information regarding or related to the possibility of using laser power from a launching site on the surface of the Earth and achieving orbit in a single stage launch profile:
From: http://www.astrobio.net/news-exclusive/beaming-rockets-into-space/
Beamed thermal propulsion, involves propelling a rocket by shining laser light or microwaves at it from the ground. The technology would make possible a reusable single-stage rocket that has two to five times more payload space than conventional rockets, which would cut the cost of sending payloads into low-Earth orbit.
My OP main points still need to be addessed:  


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*The main objection is maintaining the accuracy of the beam and the diminishing power of the laser due to the atmosphere the beam passes through.

*Another factor is the weight of the shield necessary to protect the vehicle from being damaged by the beam.

*Collection and delivery of enough useable laser/microwave radiation
The above article continues with the idea, rather than directly using the laser to "push" the vehicle into space, instead to use the laser to heat liquid propellent to act as a rocket motor:
A beamed thermal propulsion system would involve focusing microwave or laser beams on a heat exchanger aboard the rocket. The heat exchanger would transfer the radiation’s energy to the liquid propellant, most likely hydrogen, converting it into a hot gas that is pushed out of the nozzle. With the beam shining on the vehicle continually, it would take 8 to 10 minutes for a laser to put a craft into orbit, while microwaves would do the trick in 3 to 4 minutes. The vehicle would have to be designed without shiny surfaces that could reflect dangerous beams, and aircraft and satellites would have to be kept out of the beam’s path.
The main objection to this proposal is that the technology described above was described   least 10 years ago (and probably, in general terms, further back in time than that), and if it were a viable proposition, it's likely that commercial / military interests would have developed further it by now.
In a related area, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_YAL-1  describes the shooting down of two test missiles in flight.  This reduced the problem of atmospheric degradation and dissapation of the laser beam, as the laser was used at high altitude. As the density of the atmosphere is greatest nearest the surface of the Earth, this does not produce any insight into laser operations as described in the OP.
