Apogee, Perigee, and Recovery

Since the mid-1980s, a debate has gone on within the Department of Defense (DOD) on whether it is appropriate for the Army to be increasingly involved in space and, if so, how the Army should exploit space. This Note (1) describes the evolution of the Army's exploitation of space in response to an emerging post-World War II Soviet threat while complying with national policy and organizational directives; (2) informs the current Army, DOD, students, and others of the full spectrum of the Army's past and current exploitation of space; and (3) provides a chronology of policy decisions and events, from 1907 through mid-1989, which have shaped the Army's exploitation in the technological areas of ballistic missiles, satellites, early-warning radars, ground stations, anti-satellite defenses, anti-ballistic missile defenses, theater missile defenses, and tactical missiles.