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/ /POI': OPPIEIJct t:191! BHL'f Figure 17. Model 176 in the McDonnell Douglas Hypervelocity Impulse Tunnel .... 18 Figure 18. FDL-7C/D, Model 176 Entry Temperature Distribution ......................... 19 Figure 19. Even At Mach 12, Embedded Vortices in the Boundary Layer Alter the Local Heat Transfer ..............................................................................19 Figure 20. Thermographic Phosphor Image of Model 176 at Near-Maximum Angle of Attack .....................................................................................20 Figure 21. From L/D Maximum to Maximum Angle of Attack, There Is Always a Cool Sub-layer Adjacent to the Wall .....................................................20 Figure 22. This 1988 SEP Bordeaux SiC/SiC Panel Could Sustain Temperatures of up to 3,000°F ........................................................................................21 Figure 23. UBE Corporation's Tyranno Cloth ..........................................................21 Figure 24. A Porous Nickel Tip Oozing Water ........................................................21 Figure 25. FDL ASSET Flight-Tested From Orbital Speeds to Evaluate 1960s Materials ..............................................................................................22 Figure 26. Heat Pipe Shuttle Leading Edge Designed and Built by McDonnell Figure 27. Boost-Glide Strategic Vehicle with Pratt & Whitney XLR-129 Rocket Douglas Astronautics ...........................................................................22 Engine Installed ...................................................................................25 Figure 28. XLR-129 ...............................................................................................25 Figure 29. Two Rocket Air-Breathing Rocket Cycles to Mach 5.5 ........................... 27 Figure 30. HOTOL Evolution: From Aerodynamic Optimum Configuration to Practical Launcher Configuration .........................................................27 Figure 31. LACE Air-Breathing Rocket ...................................................................29 Figure 32. The FDL-7 Class of Vehicles ..................................................................29 Figure 33. Takeoff and Landing Speeds of Minimum-Sized Launchers ...................30 Figure 34. Horizontal launch Not Practical Unless Weight Ratio Less Than Four ...31 Figure 35. Propellant Tanks That Are Not Reentry Vehicles Greatly Reduce System Weight .....................................................................................33 Figure 36. Simple Horizontal Integration and Vertical Launch Provides Rapid Launch Capability .................................................................................34 Figure 37. A Vertical Launch Complex Provides Vertical Toss Back Booster Recovery and Horizontal Landing Facilities for the Hypersonic Gliders 34 Figure 38. A 1964 MDC Astronautics, St. Louis, Briefing ........................................35 Figure 39. Earth's Atmosphere ..............................................................................36 Figure 40. FDL-5 Scale Model of A Stage and One-Half..........................................37 Figure 41. The FDL-7 and Model 176 Class of Hypersonic Gliders ..........................37 Figure 42. Hypersonic Decelerating .......................................................................38 Figure 43. Where We Are Today ............................................................................39 Figure 44. Where We Could Be If We Can Recapture the Engineering Confidence and Expertise of the Apollo/Saturn V Era .............................................40 Figure 45. TAV Operational Costs ..........................................................................47 Figure 46. Landing Ellipse .....................................................................................48 Tables Table 1. Characteristics of Selected Flight Dynamics Laboratory Hypersonic Glider Configurations During the 1958-68 Timeframe ...............................6 Table 2. Elements of the Space Infrastructure Shown in Figure 44 .......................41 UNCLASSIFIED/ ;CfOR. OFFI&IAI: W&li &Ptklf iv
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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.