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/ j'POlt OfFI@IAL WSliii 9Pn.Y 300 ~ ----~----~----~----~----~---~ Propellant Weight 250 enC: 0 ~o :E - LACE Constant OWE -~ ---0-- LACE Actua l O W E <:_ ---a- Rocke t Constant O WE ~--~----~----~~--~~~=~~~ 'k-----+-----+-----+------t ~o ~~-~~~~~~ Et a3 a. £00 +-----+---.........=-' 0 5,000 10,000 15,000 20 ,000 25 ,000 30 ,000 Flight Speed Along Trajectory (ft/sec) Figure 31. LACE Air-Breathing Rocket Reduces Gross Liftoff Weight by 150 Metric Tons and Uses Existing Rocket Engines The LACE or deeply cooled cycle could also be adapted to operate in the FDL- 7/Model 176 if it were a first stage to a two-stage-to-orbit system, 25 as shown in Figure 32 with a retractable, inward- turning inlet.26 In this case, there is another version of the precooled air breathing eng ine concept, called the KUN cycle, that was invented by V. V. Balapin. 27 Like the LACE and deeply cooled systems, the KUN cycle can sign ificantly reduce the size and weight Inlet Heal of a launcher. The KUN ™ Deeply Cooled Exchanger Tu rbojet/Rocket Cycle incorporates a heat exchanger upstream of the Figure 32. The FDL-7 Class of Vehicles With An compressor to thermally control the air Anthony DuPont Variable Capture and a Retractable Inlet Tested to Mach 5 Employing an Air-Breathingto the compressor so a lower corrected KLIN Cycle Rocket speed of the compressor can be maintained with the increasing mach number. The cycle also thermally integrates an expander cycle rocket engine, one in wh ich rejected therma l energy is used to drive the turbopumps and accessories. The initial cycle calculations have shown good results for hypersonic vehicle space launcher applications. For mach numbers less than mach 5.5, the turbojet and rocket operate as a single system providing the required total thrust for acceleration . Turboj et UNCLASSIFIED/ /fOlt orr1e1J1ct U91!! er•t I 29
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.