US Presidents and the Militarization of Space, 1946-1967

Chapter 2: Embracing the Militarization of Space, 1953–1960

Chapter฀2:฀Embracing฀the฀Militarization฀ of฀Space,฀1953–1960 Military฀space฀activity฀dramatically฀increased฀during฀Dwight฀D.฀Eisenhower’s฀ administration.฀Unlike฀his฀predecessor,฀Eisenhower฀took฀an฀active฀and฀direct฀ interest฀in฀฀ space-฀ related฀issues฀and,฀more฀specifi ฀cally,฀he฀fi ฀rmly฀embraced฀the฀ use฀of฀satellites฀for฀militar y฀and฀peaceful฀missions.฀B uilding฀upon฀the฀r esearch ฀done฀on฀satellites฀by฀the฀RAND฀Corporation฀and฀the฀air฀force฀during฀ Truman’s฀tenure,฀Eisenhower฀codifi ฀ed฀these฀efforts฀with฀the฀establishment฀of฀ a฀national฀space฀policy. Moreover,฀while฀Eisenhower฀presided฀over฀the฀militarization฀of฀space฀he฀ also฀lobbied฀the฀United฀Nations฀for฀an฀international฀r esolution฀to฀preserve฀ space฀as฀a฀฀ weapons-฀ free฀frontier฀for฀all฀nations฀to฀explore.฀Eisenhower฀faced฀ increased฀pressure฀from฀the฀military฀to฀protect฀the฀emerging฀extraterrestrial฀ interests฀of฀the฀United฀States,฀which฀the฀military฀services฀believed฀to฀be฀of฀ vital฀geostrategic฀importance฀in฀the฀Cold฀War฀contest฀with฀the฀Soviet฀Union.฀ To฀appease฀the฀services,฀Eisenhower฀authorized฀preliminary฀research฀on฀anti- ฀ satellite฀systems฀(ASAT)฀and฀ballistic฀missile฀defenses฀(BMD).฀E isenhower฀ supported฀these฀programs฀because฀he฀believed฀that฀they฀could฀be฀used฀to฀stop฀ a฀Soviet฀attempt฀to฀control฀space.฀Though฀he฀was฀against฀the฀use฀of฀weapons฀ in฀space,฀Eisenhower฀defended฀US฀interest฀in฀ASAT฀and฀BMD฀research฀as฀ necessary฀to฀preserve฀global฀peace฀and฀stability.฀Although฀Eisenhower฀supported ฀R&D฀on฀ASAT฀and฀BMD฀systems,฀he฀stopped฀shor t฀of฀authorizing฀ deployment.฀While฀ASAT฀and฀BMD฀research฀began฀in฀the฀Eisenhower฀years,฀ they฀blossomed฀into฀fully฀funded฀programs฀under฀the฀direction฀of฀Presidents฀ Kennedy฀and฀Johnson. Eisenhower฀did฀not฀usher฀America฀into฀the฀space฀age.฀I t฀was฀already฀ there,฀and฀he฀expanded฀on฀principles฀set฀out฀in฀the฀Truman฀years.฀What฀was฀ new฀in฀the฀Eisenhower฀presidency฀was฀the฀president’s฀recognition฀of฀the฀need฀ for฀a฀national฀space฀policy฀based฀upon฀the฀militarization฀of฀space,฀while฀also฀ working฀toward฀an฀international฀agreement฀to฀ban฀weapons฀from฀space. embracing the militarization of space 27 The฀Cold฀War฀Security฀Environment฀and฀Space Eisenhower’s฀space฀policy฀evolved฀within฀the฀competitive฀parameters฀of฀the฀ Cold฀War;฀therefore,฀the฀bipolar฀rivalry฀between฀the฀United฀States฀and฀the฀ Soviet฀Union฀was฀an฀essential฀variable฀in฀the฀development฀of฀America’s฀early฀ space฀programs฀and฀policies.฀In฀documents฀from฀the฀National฀Security฀Council ฀(NSC),฀the฀tense฀rivalry฀of฀the฀Cold฀War฀is฀evident.฀The฀security฀concerns฀ advanced฀by฀the฀Technology฀Capabilities฀Panel฀(TCP)฀of฀the฀president’s฀Science ฀Advisory฀Committee฀and฀headed฀b y฀MIT฀scientist฀James฀Killian,฀as฀ well฀as฀in฀NSC฀meetings,฀r esulted฀in฀the฀formulation฀of฀policy฀papers฀such฀ President฀Eisenhower฀gets฀a฀briefi฀ng฀from฀Dr.฀Wernher฀von฀Braun฀ on฀the฀Saturn฀1฀rocket฀at฀the฀Marshall฀Space฀Flight฀Center,฀September ฀8,฀1960.฀NASA,฀courtesy฀of฀nasaimages฀ .org 28฀ chapter 2 as฀NSC-฀ 162฀ /฀ ฀ 2฀and฀NSC-฀5520฀that฀justifi฀ed฀the฀use฀of฀space฀for฀national฀ security฀purposes. Although฀ the฀NSC฀pr oduced฀ NSC-฀ 68฀ during฀Truman’s฀ presidency,฀ Eisenhower฀relied฀on฀its฀comprehensive฀recommendations฀to฀strengthen฀the฀ military฀forces฀of฀the฀United฀States.฀Even฀though฀NSC-฀ 68฀does฀not฀directly฀ discuss฀space฀programs,฀Eisenhower฀used฀its฀basic฀foundations฀to฀frame฀a฀political ฀argument฀for฀the฀militarization฀of฀space.฀NSC-฀ 68฀specifi ฀cally฀suggested฀ that฀the฀United฀States฀needed฀to฀maintain฀a฀strong฀international฀presence฀to฀ frustrate฀the฀perceived฀designs฀of฀the฀Kremlin.1 ฀Armed฀with฀NSC-฀ 68,฀Eisenhower ฀emphasized฀a฀restructuring฀of฀the฀US฀military฀to฀counter฀the฀expanding ฀international฀infl ฀uence฀of฀the฀Soviet฀Union฀and฀the฀threat฀posed฀by฀the฀ exportation฀of฀communism.฀He฀believed฀that฀satellites฀provided฀the฀United฀ States฀with฀the฀necessary฀฀ intelligence-฀ gathering฀capabilities฀to฀break฀the฀Soviet ฀Union’s฀shroud฀of฀secrecy.฀For฀Eisenhower,฀satellites฀and฀space฀systems฀ played฀vital฀roles฀in฀the฀national฀security฀strategy฀of฀the฀United฀States. The฀fi ฀rst฀steps฀toward฀the฀development฀of฀Eisenhower’s฀space฀policy฀began ฀in฀October฀1953.฀In฀NSC-฀ 162฀ /฀ ฀ 2,฀Eisenhower’s฀National฀Security฀Council ฀formally฀recognized฀the฀Soviet฀Union฀as฀the฀primary฀threat฀to฀the฀United฀ States.2 ฀The฀authors฀of฀NSC-฀ 162฀ /฀ ฀ 2฀identifi ฀ed฀the฀maturing฀atomic฀capabilities ฀of฀the฀Soviet฀Union฀as฀well฀as฀the฀international฀exportation฀of฀communist฀ ideology฀as฀primary฀threats฀to฀the฀security฀of฀the฀U nited฀States.฀To฀counter฀ these฀threats,฀the฀creators฀of฀NSC-฀ 162฀ /฀ ฀ 2฀advocated฀a฀“strong฀military฀posture ”฀and฀the฀“maintenance฀of฀morale฀and฀free฀institutions”฀as฀hedges฀against฀ the฀Soviet฀Union’s...