US Presidents and the Militarization of Space, 1946-1967

Chapter 1: Establishing the Foundation for the Militarization of Space, 1945–1952

Chapter฀1:฀Establishing฀the฀Foundation฀for฀the฀ Militarization฀of฀Space,฀1945–1952 The฀years฀1945–1952฀are฀not฀usually฀considered฀part฀of฀the฀space฀age,฀y et฀ these฀years฀witnessed฀the฀intellectual฀beginning฀of฀the฀US฀militar y฀space฀program ฀and฀the฀origin฀of ฀US฀policy฀to฀pr omote฀space฀as฀a฀peaceful฀place฀for฀ nations฀to฀explore.฀In฀fall฀1945฀through฀spring฀1946,฀the฀US฀Navy฀(USN),฀ the฀US฀Army฀Air฀Force฀(AAF),฀and฀the฀Douglas฀Aircraft฀Company’s฀Project฀ RAND฀began฀initial฀technical฀feasibility฀studies฀of฀the฀military฀usefulness฀of฀ satellites.฀These฀inquiries฀established฀the฀theoretical฀foundations฀for฀the฀later฀ development฀of฀the฀US฀military฀and฀civilian฀space฀programs. At฀the฀close฀of ฀World฀War฀II,฀the฀USN฀and฀USAF฀competed฀to฀win ฀ control฀of฀a฀mission฀not฀y et฀described฀or฀defi ฀ned.1 ฀Based฀on฀the฀technology฀of฀ Germany’s฀V-฀ 2฀rocket,฀both฀services฀examined฀the฀idea฀of฀rockets฀and฀satellites ฀for฀military฀purposes.2 ฀Despite฀interest฀in฀satellites฀among฀the฀militar y฀ services,฀President฀Truman฀himself฀devoted฀no฀attention฀to฀space฀systems.฀I nstead ,฀he฀favored฀aeronautical฀research฀and฀development฀programs.฀Without฀ presidential฀interest,฀engineers฀and฀social฀scientists฀of฀the฀RAND฀Corporation ,฀under฀contract฀from฀the฀air฀force,฀worked฀steadily฀to฀defi ฀ne฀the฀military฀ use฀of฀satellites฀and฀the฀civilian฀benefi฀ts฀of฀space฀exploration฀between฀1945฀ and฀1952.฀By฀1945,฀the฀space฀age฀had฀begun. Considering฀the฀Feasibility฀of฀Satellites Before฀the฀publication฀of ฀RAND’s฀groundbreaking฀study฀on฀satellites฀for ฀ the฀air฀force,฀the฀navy฀led฀the฀US฀militar y’s฀initial฀interest฀into฀the฀use฀of฀ satellites.3 ฀On฀October฀3,฀1945,฀members฀of฀the฀N aval฀Research฀Laboratory ฀(NRL)฀and฀Bureau฀of฀Aeronautics฀conducted฀preliminary฀studies฀on฀the฀ technical฀feasibility฀of฀satellites฀and฀established฀the฀Committee฀for฀E valuating฀ the฀Feasibility฀of฀Space฀Rocketry.4 ฀Through฀an฀initial฀contract฀with฀N orth฀ American฀Aviation฀and฀the฀Guggenheim฀Aeronautical฀Laboratory,฀the฀navy฀ 8฀ chapter 1 funded฀the฀fi฀rst฀full-฀ fl ฀edged฀technical฀feasibility฀study฀for฀a฀฀ human-฀ made฀ satellite.5 While฀it฀was฀promising฀for฀military฀application,฀the฀navy฀recognized฀that฀ the฀program’s฀estimated฀cost฀of฀fi ฀ve฀to฀eight฀million฀dollars฀would฀be฀beyond฀ its฀fi ฀nancial฀resources฀and฀budget฀allocations.6 ฀In฀an฀attempt฀to฀distribute฀the฀ costs฀of฀a฀satellite,฀Cdr.฀Harvey฀Hall฀of฀the฀navy’s฀Bureau฀of฀Aeronautics฀proposed ฀a฀joint฀USN-฀ AAF฀satellite฀research฀program,฀raising฀the฀idea฀in฀a฀meeting ฀with฀Army฀Air฀F orce฀generals฀H.฀J.฀Knerr,฀H.฀W.฀McLellan,฀and฀W.฀L.฀ Richardson฀in฀March฀1946.7 ฀The฀generals฀agreed฀to฀discuss฀the฀project฀with฀ the฀AAF฀director฀of฀research฀and฀development,฀Maj.฀Gen.฀Curtis฀E.฀LeMay.฀ Stunned,฀LeMay฀rejected฀the฀navy’s฀proposal฀for฀joint฀research฀on฀satellites฀ outright฀and฀extended฀a฀contract฀to฀the฀D ouglas฀Aircraft฀Company฀for฀an฀ AAF฀feasibility฀study฀on฀an฀฀earth-฀ orbiting฀satellite.฀Seeing฀an฀opportunity฀ to฀advance฀AAF฀efforts฀to฀gain฀independence,฀LeMay฀believed฀that฀the฀AAF,฀ not฀the฀navy,฀should฀control฀all฀aspects฀of฀air฀operations,฀even฀if฀this฀came฀to฀ include฀satellites฀and฀space฀systems.฀S ubsequently฀LeMay฀established฀an฀AAF฀ satellite฀feasibility฀program฀within฀the฀Douglas฀Aircraft฀Company’s฀Project฀ RAND,฀which฀later฀evolved฀into฀the฀RAND฀Corporation.฀In฀essence,฀the฀air฀ force฀program฀rivaled฀the฀navy’s฀study. In฀the฀years฀immediately฀after฀the฀Second฀World฀War,฀the฀United฀States฀ already฀identifi ฀ed฀itself฀as฀the฀leader฀in฀aer onautical฀research฀and฀development ,฀and฀Project฀RAND฀evolved฀from฀AAF฀general฀H.฀H.฀Arnold’s฀belief฀ that฀America฀needed฀to฀maintain฀and฀str engthen฀its฀scientifi ฀c฀and฀technological ฀edge฀in฀the฀Cold฀War.฀Arnold฀feared฀that฀US฀research฀and฀development฀ would฀wither฀after฀World฀War฀II.฀Reacting฀to฀the฀navy’s฀proposal฀and฀striving฀ to฀maintain฀the฀relationship฀between฀air฀force฀and฀civilian฀scientists,฀LeMay฀ charged฀the฀engineers฀of฀Project฀RAND฀with฀assessing฀the฀feasibility฀of฀a฀satellite .8 ฀With฀the฀steadfast฀belief฀of฀air฀force฀leaders฀that฀the฀future฀of฀military฀ operations฀rested฀upon฀the฀strength฀of฀America’s฀strategic฀airpower,฀leaders฀ such฀as฀LeMay฀foresaw฀satellites฀as฀potentially฀useful฀for฀the฀air฀force.9 On฀May฀2,฀1946,฀engineers฀in฀Project฀RAND฀presented฀their฀report฀entitled ฀“Preliminary฀Design฀of฀an฀Experimental฀World฀Circling฀Spaceship.”10 ฀ Douglas฀Aircraft฀Company฀engineer฀and฀report฀author฀Louis฀Ridenour฀outlined ฀the฀signifi฀cance฀of฀the฀satellite฀v ehicle฀and฀the฀potential฀militar y฀applications ฀of฀satellites฀for฀the฀AAF .฀According฀to฀Ridenour,฀satellites฀could฀ feasibly฀correct฀the฀fl ฀ight฀paths฀of฀missiles฀or...