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/ fFOA OFFI&iIAk Ulilii ONkY system A ALang l Wing- yl inder nfigu rati n n ep Inadequate lateral-directional stability and control WB-004 Wing training edge control s Unsymmetrical vortices can produce super sonic control problems Cylinder heating extends up to 55° to 60° Poor hypersonic lift-to-drag ratio Glide ang le of attack Complex very high ~ 45° compared curved TPS to 15° for high UO design provide limited limits glide rangeThin wings control capability encounter for a military severe heating maneuver vehicle from both sides i.e. "hot structure" Figure 9. NASA Langley Wing-Body Configuration WB-004 With Generally Critical Areas for Wing Bodies Identified With a high entry angle of attack, the cross flow over the cylinder produces high heating rates beyond the mid-cylinder line . With a lower L/D ratio, the down and cross ranges are limited as to what might be achieved but more in line with NASA one missed-orbit criterion. The thin wings are heated on both sides to create added thermal problems, as well as added surface area to increase drag. Al Draper and his team, together with Bob Masek's t eam at McDonnell Douglas Astronautics, worked long and diligently to arrive at the FDL-7/Model 176 configurations shown in Figu re 10 . The insert photo is Dale Reed 's model of the FDL- 7MC radio-controlled model at NASA Dryden. The AFFDL and MDC configu rations were inherently stable at all operational ang les of att ack from at least mach 22 to landing speed. The remainder of this report will focus on the characteristics of t his class of lifting body . The statements in Figu re 10 were all based on wind tunnel data. A real advantage of t he trapezoidal shape was not only flat metallic shingles but heating on the sides and upper surface that was at least t hree-fifths that of the conventional shapes. The glide range was such that th is configuration could land in CONUS from any location on any inclination orbit from its current orbit with no wa iting . UNCLASSIFIED/ /fOR OFFI&il.lJ.k 11ilii CNP X 11
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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.