Things Fall Apart

On March 30, 2005, the NBC series "West Wing" aired an episode titled Things Fall Apart , which introduced a sub-plot where-in the International Space Station (ISS) has experienced a leak and is losing oxygen. The astronauts cannot repair the leak.

Later a NASA administrator briefs C.J.,

"A rescue operation is obviously called for but the space shuttles are grounded right now pending an uncompleted safety review and retrofit."

Kate adds, "And the Russians can't get a launch together in time."

"How long have they got?" asks C.J.

"Assuming the present rate of oxygen loss, in three weeks they'll be dead."

"Can't a shuttle be pressed into service not withstanding the review?"

"One's missing half its wing assembly and the other one's undergoing a complete tile replacement. Now, we can speed up repairs---"

Kate voices the unspoken thought, "The concern would then be losing the shuttle crew and the space station crew."

"---No, that's the civilian shuttle.", blurts the administrator.

This indication is obviously a surprise to C.J.

Eventually we are given hints of a surprisingly sophisticated craft much like the DoD artwork seen above, the FALCON. The Secretary of Defense doesn't want this covert program used, because the Russian on the ISS would see it and the President has to think it over.

There followed a line that made me roar....

POTUS says, "Wernher von Braun's autobiography was titled, 'I Aim for the Stars';

Mort Sahl joked he should have added, 'only sometimes I hit London'."

Does the US DoD have their own secret, black ops Space Shuttle? I wouldn't be surprised!
But here's some info from FootNoteTV:


U.S. Space Programs (last updated March 30, 2005)
It is no secret that the United States has been seeking to develop space capabilities in recent years, though there were no reports as of early 2005 that it has developed its own space shuttle for secret military use. Developing a military-operated space shuttle probably would not violate international treaties, but some of the other actions contemplated by the Defense Department in this episode - developing bombs and other weapons that could be dropped from orbit, as well as letting astronauts die - arguably could violate a treaty that the United States entered into in the 1960s.

Developing something like a space shuttle for military use was proposed in a 2001 report by a commission examining how U.S. space activities were organized and managed in support of national security. The Commission expressed concern about a "Space Pearl Harbor," an attack on U.S. satellites or civilian assets, and pointed out "warning signs of U.S. vulnerability" such as a 2000 report by the Xinhua news agency that China's military was "developing methods and strategies for defeating the U.S. military in a high-tech and space-based future war."
The commission recommended that one objective of U.S. space security policy should be "assured access to space and on-orbit operations," which a space shuttle would help achieve. The commission stated that U.S. interests "depend critically on assured and timely access to space" and that the United States "should continue to pursue revolutionary reusable launch vehicle technologies and systems."

Still, it does not appear that the Defense Department has actually put money into developing its own space shuttle.

Military budgets (available on-line

here) show that the Defense Department has devoted millions of dollars in recent years to programs for launching satellites and payloads, but none to developing its own reusable launch vehicle, or something like a space shuttle. The following table shows the space programs identified in the FY 2006 budget (on-line as a PDF here) :

Service Program
Description FY 2006 Budget Amount (in millions)

Army Ground Systems
Super-high frequency beyond-line-of-sight communications to deployed forces $66.5

Navy Mobile User Objective Satellite System
Narrow-band communications $470

Air Force Advanced Extremely High Frequency Satellite
Worldwide communications $1,194.3

Air Force Defense Support Program
Early warning of missile launches and detonations $42.7

Air Force Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle
Launch of medium-to-heavy-weight satellites $864.4

Air Force Medium Launch Vehicles
Launch of medium-weight satellites $111.2

Air Force NAVSTAR Global Position System
Global system of satellites for navigation purposes $719.6

Air Force Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS) - High
New technologies for detecting strategic and tactical ballistic missile launches $756.6

Air Force Transformational Satellite Communications
Worldwide communications $835.8

Air Force Space Based Radar
Worldwide surveillance through satellites, first of which planned for FY 2015 launch $225.8

(Forgive the sloppiness of the table....My fault! sunking)

It is worth noting that the space shuttles operated by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration have brought military payloads into orbit in the past.

As noted above, the United States is a party to the Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, Including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies, better known as the Outer Space Treaty (on-line here). Article IV of this treaty does not prohibit the development of a military-operated space shuttle, but it does prevent the United States from installing any weapon of mass destruction in orbit around the Earth or on the moon and it limits the use of any lunar bases to peaceful purposes. Article V holds that states "shall render to [astronauts] all possible assistance in the event of accident, distress, or emergency landing on the territory of another State Party on the high seas."

Sources: The Report of the Commission to Assess United States National Security Space Management and Organization was released on Jan. 11, 2001 and is on-line here; Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's May 8, 2001 response is on-line here. The Defense Department's FY 2006 budget is on-line here; information on space programs was taken from the Program Acquisition Costs by Weapon Systems document on-line as a PDF here. The Outer Space Treaty is on-line via the State Department here.