Mar 24 1981
From The Space Library
Biggest and best customer of the Space Shuttle, developed and operated by a civilian agency, would be the Department of Defense (DOD), said the Washington Star in one of a series of articles on the Shuttle program. At least 21 of 75 spaceflights planned before 1986 would be military missions, and neither NASA nor DOD would say what the flights were for. DOD had contributed millions of dollars to the Shuttle program in hardware and personnel, including a multibillion-dollar facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base for launches into polar orbit.
Although the Shuttle would serve both civilian and military purposes, the two sides showed differing degrees of confidence: current boosters had reached orbit only 90% of the time. 10% dumping expensive satellites into the sea. "We have yet to achieve routine access to space," said Lt. Gen. Richard C. Henry, commander of the U.S. Air Force's Space Division. Shuttle reliability should be "as close to 100% as you can get." Most NASA missions slated for the 1980s and beyond could not be flown without the huge cargo bay of the Shuttle. The military, however, would keep its Atlas and Titan expendable boosters just in case. Space, said Henry, was the high ground, "crucial for collecting and disseminating information, for reducing the confusion of battle, even for improving combat efficiency. . . . Everything we put up is supportive of our national security, but nothing is combative." DOD, he added, had "made commitments far in excess of any civil users." (W Star, Mar 24/81, A-8)
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