Early conceptions of space stations often emphasized their military potential. But the goal of developing a militarily useful station proved difficult and has been, to all appearances, abandoned -- at least for now.
In the 1950s, Wernher von Braun and other rocket experts argued that, in addition to civilian tasks, the crew aboard a station could perform military reconnaissance. Von Braun also identified what he called a "terrifying" potential use for a station: "It can be converted into a terribly effective atomic bomb carrier."
During the 1960s, both the United States and Soviet Union began development of military space stations. The Pentagon's Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) program aimed to create a two-person reconnaissance platform using hardware similar to that of NASA's Gemini missions.
But MOL, which received a go-ahead in 1965, was canceled in 1969. The program had made little progress, says Air Force historian Cargill Hall. "It was just about as far from its first flight as when it started."
During the same period, it also became increasingly apparent that automated systems -- spy satellites and ballistic missiles -- could handle military tasks initially thought to require a crew in orbit.
The idea of a piloted Air Force space station "never resurfaced" after MOL's cancellation, says Hall. Moreover, in his opinion, "the Air Force was spared thereafter the split that occurred in NASA between human spacecraft and automated spacecraft." NASA, says Hall, "has been in two camps, to this day."
The Soviet military, for its part, deployed several stations with reconnaissance capabilities in the 1970s. These were called Almaz, and were concealed within Salyut -- the Soviet civilian space station program.
However, the Soviets ceased the Almaz effort, apparently also finding no advantage over spy satellites.
In the early 1980s, as NASA sought funding for a new space station, the space agency "needed allies" but was unable to interest the Pentagon in the project, says Howard E. McCurdy, professor of public affairs at American University and author of the book, The Space Station Decision.
The Pentagon's reluctance, in McCurdy's view, stemmed partly from disillusionment with NASA's space shuttle, which the military then was relying on to deliver satellites into orbit.
Subsequently, the proposed station's evolution into the current International Space Station project placed further barriers to Pentagon involvement. "Europe and Japan didn't want to go on a space station that had military research," says McCurdy.
Eventually, however, space stations may once again become a subject fraught with military implications.
"As private enterprise and more governments go into space, there will be a question of asset protection," says McCurdy, noting the possibility of disputes over lunar ice and other resources. "I just can't imagine that the military won't want to be there."
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