AAWSAP DIRD, Space Access: Where We’ve Been and Where We Could Go, March 2010

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.

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Aero Heating 97.5% Radiated
to Space
metal sh ingle
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Figure 16. McDonnell Aircraft Company Roll-Bonded Titanium Structure (circa 1963). Today this
structure would be super-plastically formed and diffusio n bonded from RSR titaniu m sheets. u
Mulready's book mentions the McDonnell Doug las boost-glide strategic vehicle, as well
as citing key personnel at McDonnell Aircraft Company. Low thermal conductivity
standoffs set off the insulated-metal, therma l-protection -in sulated shingles from this
wall so that there was an air gap between them. The X-33 applied the metal shingle
concept, albeit with significant improvement in the standoff design and thermal
leakage, in the orientation, thickness, and weight of the sh ingles. This is one aspect of
the X-33 that can be appl ied to future spacecraft for a more reliable and repairable
therma l protection system than ceramic tiles. All efforts by the author to obtain
information on the shingles manufactured by Goodrich Aerospace have been met with
the response, "We lost the contract and are investing in more productive products."
The titan ium diffusion-bonded and super-plastically formed wall was both the primary
aircraft structure and the propellant tank wal l. The cryogenic propellants were isolated
from the metal wa ll by a metal foil barrier and sealed insulation on the inside of the
propellant tank. Significant testing of this structural approach confirmed its superior
capabil ities as a hypersonic rad iation-cooled structure.
The Model 176 was proposed for the Manned Orbiting Laboratory. It was a thoroughly
designed and tested configuration with a complet e, all -metal thermal - protection system
that had the same weight as ceramic tile and carbon -carbon concepts used for the U.S.
space shuttle but was sturd ier and could be repaired in a hanger or in orbit. A wind
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