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/ /POR: OPPIEIICL t:191!!! 9HL'I Lifting body configuration AFFDL-7C/D Lifting BodyFlight tested nose eliminates thin wings with tip design assures Configuration Conceptwing-like lift. High lift-to-drag 100 °C temperature ratio and global glide range All-flying control surfaces provide stability and control from Mach 02 to 22 Heat pipe leading edges assures high LID leading edge radii. Flat pane TPS system Trapezoidal cross section increases lift-to-drag ratio and reduces side Anhedral fixed finsand upper surface with trailing edgeheating by 1/3 flaps assure subsonic lateral-directional stability and control Figure 10. FDL-7C/D and FDL-7MC Lifting-Body Configuration. Offers inherent stability and control with sufficient volume and high lift-to-drag ratio. The switchblade wing version of the FDL-7MC was the preferred version for 1983 studies that were part of the McDonnell Douglas TAV (transatmospheric vehicle) effort; that vehicle was powered by either an Aerojet Sacramento air turboramjet or an air breathing rocket propulsion system. The inward-turning, variable-capture area inlet10 provides the correct engine airflow from landi ng speeds to mach 5.5, as illustrated in Figure 11. Figure 11. FDL-7C/D with a DuPont Retractable Inward- Turning Inlet The propellant tanks were cylindrical-segment, multilobe structures with bulkheads and stringers to support the flat, metal-radiative thermal-protection shingles (very similar to those fabricated by Goodrich Aerospace for the now-defunct X-33). The nose was UNCLASSIFIED/ lFOR. OFFI&I.t.k Wliliii 8Plk¥ 12
Not linked to a story yet.
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.