US Presidents and the Militarization of Space, 1946-1967

Chapter 5: Continuity and Variation, 1946–1967

Chapter฀5:฀Continuity฀and฀Variation,฀ 1946–1967 From฀the฀onset฀of฀the฀Cold฀War,฀satellites฀and฀space฀programs฀evolved฀to฀become ฀critical฀elements฀used฀to฀further฀the฀national฀security฀objectives฀of฀the฀ United฀States.฀The฀early฀history฀of฀US฀efforts฀to฀build฀military฀satellites฀and฀ militarize฀space฀has฀received฀far฀less฀attention฀than฀the฀histor y฀of฀the฀civilian ฀programs฀of฀NASA.฀This฀disparity฀slights฀the฀fact฀that฀both฀the฀military฀ and฀civilian฀space฀e fforts฀served฀to฀reinforce฀the฀fundamental฀objectiv e฀of฀ US฀presidents฀between฀1953฀and฀1967฀to฀pr eserve฀space฀as฀a฀฀weapons-฀ free฀ frontier฀for฀the฀benefi ฀t฀of฀all.฀Building฀on฀the฀satellite฀feasibility฀studies฀completed ฀by฀RAND฀engineers฀and฀USAF฀o fficers฀between฀1947฀and฀1952, ฀ Presidents฀Eisenhower,฀Kennedy,฀and฀Johnson฀identifi ฀ed฀the฀value฀of฀satellites ฀for฀international฀prestige,฀national฀security,฀and฀advanced฀research฀and฀ development฀of฀military฀hardware.฀Before฀the฀advancements฀in฀satellite฀and฀ space฀systems฀made฀under฀these฀leaders,฀key฀people฀in฀the฀RAND฀Corporation ฀and฀USAF฀established฀the฀basic฀parameters฀for฀the฀non-฀ aggressive฀use฀ of฀military฀satellites,฀as฀well฀as฀the฀idea฀that฀space฀needed฀to฀be฀maintained฀ as฀a฀฀weapons-฀ free฀frontier.฀Between฀1946฀and฀1952,฀RAND’ s฀James฀Lipp,฀ Louis฀Ridenour,฀and฀Paul฀Kecskemeti฀worked฀with฀air฀force฀officers฀Bernard฀ Schriever,฀C.฀P.฀Cabell,฀and฀Hoyt฀Vandenberg฀to฀build฀a฀solid฀foundation฀ providing฀for฀the฀eventual฀incorporation฀of฀satellites฀and฀space฀systems฀into฀ the฀national฀security฀str ucture฀of฀the฀United฀States.฀Meanwhile,฀President฀ Truman฀provided฀no฀direction฀or฀support฀for฀the฀development฀of฀satellites฀ by฀the฀United฀States฀during฀his฀term. In฀the฀fi ฀rst฀decade฀of฀the฀Cold฀War,฀while฀the฀air฀force฀worked฀to฀build฀ a฀military฀satellite฀program,฀Presidents฀Eisenhower,฀Kennedy,฀and฀Johnson฀ worked฀to฀ensure฀that฀space฀did฀not฀become฀another฀contested฀fr ontier฀of฀ the฀Cold฀War฀arms฀race.฀Although฀historians฀hav e฀traditionally฀focused฀on฀ the฀space฀race฀betw een฀the฀Soviet฀Union฀and฀the฀United฀States฀in฀writing฀ of฀the฀space฀age,฀they฀hav e฀overlooked฀the฀continuity฀of฀the฀space฀policies฀ pursued฀by฀these฀three฀presidents.฀Using฀the฀ideas฀of฀engineers,฀social฀scien- 120 chapter 5 tists,฀strategists฀from฀RAND฀and฀the฀o fficers฀of฀USAF฀between฀1946฀and฀ 1952,฀Eisenhower,฀Kennedy,฀and฀Johnson฀fi ฀gured฀out฀how฀to฀devise฀a฀national ฀space฀policy฀that฀emphasized฀the฀military฀and฀civilian฀uses฀of฀space฀for฀ the฀benefi ฀t฀of฀all. This฀reinterpretation฀of฀the฀development฀of฀US฀space฀policy฀is฀signifi ฀cant฀ because฀it฀demonstrates฀that฀a฀single฀idea฀r egarding฀the฀militarization฀and฀usefulness ฀of฀space฀was฀maintained฀fr om฀Eisenhower฀to฀Johnson.฀This฀fi ฀nding฀ contradicts฀the฀popular฀opinion฀that฀the฀United฀States฀sought฀to฀weaponize฀ space.฀Furthermore,฀it฀calls฀into฀question฀the฀traditional฀interpr etation฀of฀the฀ space฀race฀as฀an฀฀ action-฀ reaction฀paradigm.฀Rather,฀Eisenhower,฀Kennedy,฀and฀ Johnson฀saw฀non-฀aggressive฀military฀satellite฀development฀and฀the฀civilian฀ space฀program฀as฀a฀means฀to฀shape฀international฀opinion฀of฀the฀scientifi ฀c,฀ technological,฀and฀military฀capabilities฀of฀the฀United฀States.฀Besides฀acting฀ as฀ambassadors฀of฀US฀capability,฀satellites฀provided฀the฀United฀States฀with฀ advanced฀non-฀ aggressive฀military฀฀ intelligence-฀ gathering฀platforms฀that฀were฀ critical฀in฀assessing฀the฀strategic฀nuclear฀balance฀betw een฀the฀United฀States฀ and฀the฀Soviet฀Union.฀With฀the฀various฀satellite฀systems฀designed฀for฀reconnaissance ,฀communication,฀weather฀data฀collection,฀and฀navigation,฀E isenhower ,฀Kennedy,฀and฀Johnson฀militarized฀space,฀but฀did฀not฀w eaponize฀it.฀ The฀important฀distinction฀between฀militarization฀and฀weaponization฀enabled฀ Eisenhower,฀Kennedy,฀and฀Johnson฀to฀counter฀the฀Soviet฀Union’s฀increasing฀ international฀prestige฀after฀its฀series฀of฀space฀fi ฀rsts.฀Essentially,฀US฀presidents฀ between฀1952฀and฀1967฀cast฀the฀United฀States฀as฀the฀nation฀dedicated฀to฀the฀ peaceful฀and฀non-฀ aggressive฀use฀of฀space.฀To฀achieve฀their฀objective,฀all฀three฀ worked฀with฀the฀General฀Assembly฀of฀the฀United฀Nations฀to฀maintain฀space฀ as฀a฀฀ weapons-฀ free฀frontier.฀From฀the฀perspective฀of฀all฀three,฀both฀the฀military฀ and฀civilian฀space฀programs฀of฀the฀United฀States฀supported฀this฀goal. For฀these฀presidents,฀the฀military฀and฀civilian฀space฀pr ograms฀became฀ more฀than฀just฀passive฀intelligence฀platforms฀and฀demonstrators฀of฀the฀country ’s฀scientifi ฀c฀and฀technological฀capabilities.฀Together฀these฀space฀programs฀ merged฀to฀illustrate฀the฀presidents’฀intentions฀to฀use฀space฀for฀peaceful฀purposes .฀Johnson’s฀signing฀of฀the฀O uter฀Space฀Treaty฀(OST)฀in฀January฀1967฀ and฀the฀entry฀into฀force฀of฀the฀treaty฀in฀October฀1967฀signaled฀the฀culmination ฀of฀the฀฀ nineteen-฀ year฀quest฀to฀ban฀weapons฀from฀space฀and฀secure฀space฀ as฀a฀peaceful฀frontier...