Documents / Official release
This Defense Intelligence Reference Document, dated 8 March 2010, was prepared by the Defense Intelligence Agency's Defense Warning Office under the Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program. It is one of a series of advanced technology reports. It surveys the history of space access concepts, covering hypersonic gliders, air-breathing and rocket propulsion, materials, launch options and operating costs. The report argues that reliable, schedulable access to low Earth orbit is mainly a hardware and organizational problem rather than a technology problem.
From the source: Release of 2026-09-18 Incident: 3/8/10, Las Vegas, Nevada. Released with redactions. This document is a Defense Intelligence Reference Document (DIRD), a technical reference format used by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) to capture baseline knowledge on a specific topic for later analytic use. DIRDs are best understood as reference and synthesis products rather than as original research. It is one of 38 DIRDs produced under the Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program (AAWSAP) between 2009 and 2011. Because AAWSAP’s scope permitted a broad range of supporting topics, not every DIRD in the series directly concerns aerospace systems or future threat assessment. The following summary reflects the DIRD’s scope and framing at the time of writing and should not be read as implying current validation of the concepts discussed. This DIRD is a historical and conceptual survey of space access systems, contending that the main barrier to routine access to space is a failure to build durable, reliable, operational hardware and the supporting infrastructure needed for regular service to and from low Earth orbit. The report reviews earlier launch and aerospace concepts, especially reusable and aircraft-like approaches, and suggests that U.S. space access development became too strongly centered on expendable rockets derived from ballistic missiles rather than bespoke systems designed for repeated space access and payload delivery. Its central claim is that meaningful future progress will depend on creating a purpose-built space transportation infrastructure, including frequent round-trip capability and orbital support networks, rather than continuing to rely on one-off launch vehicles. Overall, the document presents a forceful case for infrastructure-first space development, though its characterization of past technological choices is more assertive than a fully neutral account of past U.S. space programming.
UNCLASSIFIED/,CFOA OFFl€1Ak Uliliii ONkY The AFFDL's approach was to design a hypersonic performance configuration that would minimize the waiting t ime in orbit to return to the continental United States (CONUS). This resulted in configurations with sharper leading edges and smaller nose radii than found in NASA and Russian configurations. All of the material, structural, and thermodynamic details related to the sharper configurations were tested and verified in ground test facilities and flight tests (BGRV and ASSET). Characteristics of selected AFFDL hypersonic glider configurations are identified in Table 1. Table 1. Characteristics of Selected Flight Dynamics Laboratory Hypersonic Glider Configurations During the 1958-68 Timeframe # Model Observation l FDL-24B Flat bottom, sharp leading edges, conventional tails, as designed 2 All Body Glider, similar to Russian BOR vehicles Upnirned spatular nose, conventional tail s 3 ASSET Test vehicle to evaluate aerodynamics, thermodynamics and materi als, based on nose of DynaSoar 4 FDL-7MC Flat bottom , sharp leading edges, variable geometry wing, ex perimentally developed tail X configuration 5 Blunt nose, wing-body DynaSoar type configuration 6 Spaturlar Nose Version of DynaSoar type First integration of 2-dirnensional nose (less drag) on a hypersonic glider (R.D. Newmann) 7 FDL-8 Flat bottom, sharp leading edges, outboard tails 8 HL-10 ASA Ames flat up-swept with bottom, ro und upper body, high dihedral angle tai ls 9 X-24A NASA Langley round body, high dihedral angle tails LO Star Body based on Russian Star Body type configuration Configuration 2 was a higher wing-loading, relatively blunt all-body with an upswept spatular nose that is not unlike Russia's Bor series of Lozino-Lozinski hypersonic gliders. When the author was at Wright-Patterson, interest in this waned quickly because of the limited cross range available. Because of the longitudinal extent of the former Soviet Union compared with the United States, the minimum L/D ratio to ensure a landing on the continental land mass was less for the former Soviet Union than it was for the United States-1. 7 for the Soviet Union versus 2. 7 for the United States . Configuration 3 was a subscale research vehicle to evaluate the thermodynamic and materials for hypersonic gliders. The nose and leading edge radii were full-scale size. ASSET was successfully flown on a Thor intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) booster. One that was recovered after an ocean landing is on display in the U.S. Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio . Configuration 6 was the first two-dimensiona l nose applied to a conventional winged-body (configuration 5) in the United States. Configuration 4 was a product of cooperation between the AFFDL (Alfred Draper) and McDonnell Douglas Astronautics Company (Robert Masek) to develop a vehicle to support the Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL). This concept was briefed to the U.S. UNCLASSIFIED/ /FOR OFFICIO! 1ISliii AIIL¥ 6
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Official release, from the pursue collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 56 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.