Buzz
Throughout the annals of military history, leaders have always understood that securing the high ground confers a significant advantage on the battlefield. Since the dawn of the space age, marked by the launch of the first satellite, outer space has emerged as the ultimate high ground—control over which could potentially offer a strategic edge to any nation capable of deploying weaponry beyond Earth’s atmosphere. However, many initiatives aimed at militarizing space have faltered, with some programs being abandoned or deemed costly failures.
10. MOL
The Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL), a project initiated by the US Air Force in 1963, was intended to conduct orbital experiments to evaluate the military benefits of placing a human in space. However, the true objective of MOL was to create an orbital platform for manned reconnaissance.
At the time, studies suggested that human-operated systems could capture higher-resolution images compared to their unmanned counterparts. Moreover, a manned system could transmit data and adjust target coverage at a much faster pace. The project was divided between the US Air Force, tasked with constructing the space station, and the National Reconnaissance Office, responsible for developing the cameras and related subsystems.
The final design for MOL featured a Gemini capsule at the front, a pressurized module for astronauts at the center, and cameras positioned at the rear. A mock-up of the MOL underwent a test launch in 1966. However, as the 1960s progressed, the project faced mounting criticism. With costs exceeding the budget by over $1 billion, advancements in technology made the need for astronauts increasingly questionable.
In 1969, President Richard Nixon made the decision to cancel MOL without ceremony.
9. Project Almaz
Similar to the US MOL initiative, the Almaz program was the Soviet Union's attempt to harness manned spaceflight for military purposes during the height of the Cold War. The Almaz program successfully carried out several manned missions, returning valuable reconnaissance footage. To mask its military nature, the Almaz space stations were launched as part of the civilian Salyut space station program.
The first successful Almaz mission, OPS-2 (disguised as “Salyut-3”), was equipped with a range of cameras, along with a 23-millimeter (90 in) cannon. However, the prospect of firing the cannon with a crew aboard was dismissed due to the risk of shaking the entire station. OPS-2 was joined by a Soyuz transport vehicle carrying two cosmonauts, while OPS-3 supported three crews with two astronauts per crew.
After just two space stations, Soviet leadership arrived at the same conclusion reached by the Americans with MOL eight years earlier: The inclusion of humans in space was not worth the exorbitant costs, efforts, and risks, leading to the program’s cancellation. Soviet cosmonauts spent only 81 days in orbit, a mere fraction of the billions of rubles invested in the program.
8. Soyuz PPK
The Soyuz spacecraft is a reliable system for ferrying astronauts to the International Space Station. However, during the spacecraft's development in the 1960s, chief designer Sergei Korolev initially envisioned military uses for the project in order to secure military funding for construction and other expenses. While Korolev focused on the civilian model, the development of the military variant was outsourced to a different designer.
The Soyuz PPK spacecraft was designed to function as a manned space interceptor, capable of docking with enemy satellites to either destroy or inspect them. To reach higher orbiting satellites, the spacecraft was intended to refuel using a separate tanker spacecraft. It was believed that the Soyuz PPK could have achieved an orbit as high as 6,000 kilometers (3,700 mi).
By 1964, the program was halted. With advancements in technology, unmanned military spacecraft became a more viable option, leading the Soviet military to lose interest in manned spacecraft. The Soyuz PPK project was officially canceled in 1965. However, the civilian version of the Soyuz continued to thrive and is still in use today.
7. FOBS
During the Cold War, the Soviet military was locked in an ongoing nuclear arms race with the US military. The US had early-warning radar systems directed at the North Pole, the most probable route for Soviet missiles. Realizing that the US would remain unaware of missiles approaching from other directions, the Soviets developed the Fractional Orbital Bombardment System (FOBS) to exploit this vulnerability.
With FOBS, nuclear warheads would be launched into a steeply inclined polar orbit, allowing them to approach the continental US from any direction, particularly from the south. The warheads could be commanded to exit orbit, leaving the US with no time to react before a nuclear explosion.
The R-36 SCARP missile, outfitted with a modified warhead featuring navigation and braking systems, served as the launcher for the FOBS warheads. Test launches were conducted between 1966 and 1967. However, the signing of the Outer Space Treaty later prohibited the Soviets from deploying nuclear warheads into space.
Despite this, the Soviets could still launch objects into orbit without nuclear warheads. They also maintained FOBS missiles on alert in silos, with 18 systems deployed. The missiles were eventually retired in 1983 as part of the SALT II arms reduction treaty.
6. Lunex Project
In 1961, as President John F. Kennedy set the ambitious goal for America to send civilian astronauts to the Moon, the US Air Force unveiled a summary of its classified plan for Project Lunex, which aimed to establish a military base on the Moon by 1967. The proposed launch vehicle for the project was a spaceplane, propelled by a solid rocket booster and a LOX/LH2 core, a design reminiscent of the space shuttle. Some of the technology developed for the project, such as the RL-10 rocket engine, remains in use today.
One of the main objectives of the project was to expand the US military's role in space exploration. Unlike the Soviets, who did not differentiate between military and civilian space programs, a US military presence in space would allow for a swift response to Soviet efforts to militarize space. However, the US military was ill-equipped to manage a manned lunar mission that would require the independent development of all the necessary hardware.
In the end, the program was abandoned when the military shifted its focus to a unified national space initiative, which evolved into Project Apollo.
5. Buran Shuttle
In the 1970s, responding to the United States' development of the space shuttle, the Soviet military developed its own spacecraft, Buran. The Buran shuttle was primarily a military initiative due to the USSR's concerns that the US shuttle could potentially deploy nuclear weapons over Soviet territory. Overall, Buran shared similar design features and capabilities with the US shuttle, but had differences, such as liquid-fueled boosters and disposable main engines, which utilized the separate Energia rocket system.
Unlike the US space shuttle, which was primarily designed to deploy satellites, Buran's purpose was to service, assemble, and return substantial payloads from space. For instance, Buran was intended to construct the Mir-2, a massive Soviet space station, as well as to deploy and maintain large anti-missile and anti-satellite complexes in orbit. However, the collapse of the Soviet Union led to the program's cancellation after just one unmanned flight, with Buran and its support facilities left to deteriorate.
4. Program 437
In the early 1960s, the US Air Force conceived a plan to launch nuclear missiles into space to destroy enemy satellites in the event of a nuclear strike. This initiative, known as Program 437, was approved by US Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara in 1962. Missiles were stationed on Johnston Island in the Pacific, and the program became operational in 1964 after four successful test launches.
Program 437 was the successor to Operation Fishbowl, where nuclear weapons were detonated in the upper atmosphere and in space to study the effects of the explosions. The most powerful test, a 1,400-kiloton blast, caused widespread disruptions to power and communications as far as Hawaii, and severely damaged or destroyed seven satellites.
Program 437’s decline was gradual but inevitable. The vulnerability of the launch site to extreme weather conditions and the aging Thor rockets meant that the program had a limited lifespan. Moreover, the site’s isolation, with the nearest military support located hundreds of miles away in Hawaii, made it a target for a potential Soviet commando raid. Additionally, the escalating Vietnam War drained US military resources, prompting the Air Force to scale back and ultimately cancel Program 437.
3. Space Shuttle
From the conclusion of the Apollo program until 2011, the space shuttle was primarily recognized as the US's main transportation system to space. However, what’s not widely known is that the shuttle’s payload and operational specifications were mostly shaped by the needs of the US military. Designed to replace all existing US launch vehicles, the military demanded a spacious 5-meter (15 ft) diameter payload bay for launching spy satellites.
The US military also envisioned shuttle missions with a singular polar orbit, designed to photograph the Soviet Union or even capture a Soviet spacecraft and bring it back to Earth. Fearing that the Soviets might protect their satellites with antisatellite weaponry, the US Air Force wanted these covert operations to be executed swiftly. Additionally, to ensure the shuttle could return to its launch site after just one orbit, the shuttle required large delta wings for the necessary cross-range glide.
While the military could secure funding and political support to protect NASA from doubting US politicians, the military didn’t actually need the shuttle as they had expendable rockets available. However, NASA needed the shuttle to establish a planned space station and maintain a human presence in orbit. This gave the military an advantage in negotiations. With little leverage, NASA conceded to all the military’s demands regarding the shuttle’s payload and cross-range capabilities in 1971.
SLC-6, an old launchpad at Vandenberg Air Force Base, was repurposed to launch the shuttle into polar orbit for military operations. Initially designed for the MOL missions, SLC-6 sat unused for several years after the cancellation of the MOL program.
When the Challenger disaster struck, it provided the military with a reason to abandon the shuttle program, which was already falling short of their needs for quick launches. This marked the end of the military’s shuttle missions and their manned space efforts for good.
2. Space Cruiser
In the 1970s, the US Navy, worried about Soviet spy satellites tracking their naval vessels, initiated the development of a one-man space cruiser. This spacecraft, launched by missile from a submarine, was designed to destroy Soviet satellites before their tracking systems could react.
The space cruiser was a cone-shaped vehicle less than 9 meters (30 ft) in length. Its design was so minimalistic (see blueprints above) that the sole astronaut would have to rely on a spacesuit for life support at all times. With an open cockpit in space, the pilot would have his head exposed outside the vehicle during orbital operations.
This project, along with other plans to militarize space, was likely canceled by the mid-1970s when the US military chose to depend on the space shuttle for all their launch needs.
1. Dyna-Soar
The Dyna-Soar program, a military precursor to the shuttle, began in 1958. Dyna-Soar was a hypersonic glider designed to carry one pilot and a small payload. It would have launched aboard a Titan missile and then glided back to base. The limited payload and crew capacity severely constrained the missions Dyna-Soar could perform. Once expected to be the first manned US spacecraft, the spaceplane eventually became a vehicle seeking a purpose, whether military or civilian.
Numerous military applications were envisioned for the spacecraft. At low altitudes, Dyna-Soar could approach undetected from any direction, remaining invisible until just minutes before reaching its target, which could have made it an unbeatable nuclear bomber. The spacecraft could also fly over the Soviet Union at altitudes of 25–50 kilometers (15–30 miles), offering imaging resolutions far superior to the best spy satellites.
However, like its namesakes, Dyna-Soar was doomed to extinction. The unclear nature of its potential missions led to the program’s cancellation in favor of MOL, which itself was also eventually canceled. Nonetheless, some good came of the program’s demise: Neil Armstrong, who had originally signed on as a test pilot for Dyna-Soar, transitioned to NASA as a civilian astronaut after the program was discontinued.
