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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Where is our railroad to space
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Growth of the Spaceways Routes From Dr. William Gaubatz
Figure 44. Where We Could Be If We Can Recapture the Engineering Confidence and Expertise of the
Apollo/Saturn V Era
What is not shown in Figure 44 32 is a solar power station that beams power to the
Earth's surface or space assets or a power station warehouse that provides hardware
for the power satellites in geostationary orbit. Whether a solar power satellite has the
energy conversion efficiency to provide affordable energy to Earth or space assets
comparable to what nuclear power stations could provide remains to be seen. Reports
by H. H. Koelle of the University of Berlin provide excellent information on solar power
stations.33 In fact, the singula r reliance on solar cell electric generation may doom all
power stations until a more efficient and durable conversion system is identified. As
with any thermodynamic generation system, the rejected heat becomes a major issue.
As the Long Duration Exposure Facility material s evaluation satellite proved, space is a
very hostile environment, and we have yet to identify slowly or nondeteriorating
materials and construction concepts. Nicholi Anfimov, in a private communication,
stated that the hub of the MIR orbital station (15 years in space) was so riddled with
solar particles that it was beginn ing to leak, even though there were no visible holes.
The complexity and extent of the space infrastructure are such that a significant
comm itment of human and monetary resources will be necessary if th is infrastructure is
to advance beyond a solitary orbital station with li mited capabilities.
Figure 44 identifies the elements necessary to build the infrastructure but does not
address the assets required to establish and sustain that infrastructure. Table 2 lists
systems and functions of the infrastructure shown in Figure 44 . Future global space is
a crowded and busy place.
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