Ballistic Missile and Space Technology, Volume II: Propulsion and Auxiliary Power Systems focuses on the exchange of technical information and ideas among engineers and scientists working on ballistic missile and space programs, including hypersonics, aerodynamic heating, material structures, propulsion, communications, computers, and bioastronautics. The selection first offers information on the method for the interpretation of radiographic film of large solid propellant rockets and Soviet rocket propulsion. Discussions focus on applications, large Soviet liquid rocket engines, futuristic propulsion schemes, and Soviet rocket vehicles. The text then examines several criteria for determining the propellant bias for optimum performance of liquid propellant stages and precision determination of vacuum specific impulse from trajectory data. The manuscript tackles charged metal droplets for propulsion, versatile ion source for propulsion, and electrogasdynamic analysis of ion jet neutralization. The book also reviews pulsed plasma accelerator employing electrodes and electrostatic lift for space vehicles. Topics include energy relations, electric induction effects, electrical charging of objects in space, and factors affecting the performance of plasma accelerators. The selection is a primary reference for readers interested in space electronics.

The authors assess alternatives for a next-generation intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) across a broad set of potential characteristics and situations. They use the current Minuteman III as a baseline to develop a framework to characterize alternative classes of ICBMs, assess the survivability and effectiveness of possible alternatives, and weigh those alternatives against their cost.

Contains papers presented at the Air Force Historical Foundation Symposium, held at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, on September 21-22, 1995. Topics addressed are: Pt. 1, The Formative Years, 1945-1961; Pt. 2, Mission Development and Exploitation Since 1961; and Pt. 3, Military Space Today and Tomorrow. Includes notes, abbreviations & acronyms, an index, and photographs.

This overview aims to inform the public discussion of space-based weapons by examining their characteristics, potential attributes, limitations, legality, and utility. The authors do not argue for or against space weapons, nor do they estimate the potential costs and performance of specific programs, but instead sort through the realities and myths surrounding space weapons in order to ensure that debates and discussions are based on fact.

China’s anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM), the DF-21D, has reached the equivalent of Initial Operational Capability. Although it probably has been deployed in small numbers, additional challenges and tests remain. This study examines the ASBM’s capability and history, showing how the DF-21D meets multiple priorities in Chinese defense modernization and in the national security bureaucracy, as well its implications for the United States. The ASBM’s physical threat to U.S. Navy ships will be determined by the development of associated systems and organizations, which currently limit data fusion and coordination in the complex task of identifying a U.S. aircraft carrier in the open ocean. Still, the ASBM poses a direct threat to the foundations of U.S. power project in Asia and will undermine the U.S. position, unless efforts to counter its political-military effects are taken.