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National Security Decision Directive 5-83

The headshot image of Michele Ostovar

Michele Ostovar

NASA History Communications Lead

Apr 11, 1983
Article

Contents

During 1982, NASA decided to push for Presidential approval of a space station during 1983. In order to establish the basis for such a decision, SIG (Space) requested a study of NASA’s station proposal and alternatives to it. President Reagan was briefed on the concept of a space station on April 7, 1983, and a few days later signed this directive establishing the terms of reference for the needed study. Ordinarily, Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs William Clark would have signed the directive as Chairman of SIG (Space); the White House decided to have the President himself sign the document as an indication of the study’s significance. Because the various agencies participating in the study mandated by the directive could not reach a consensus on a recommendation to the President, that study was never completed, and other paths were followed as the basis for President Reagan’s decision to approve the station program. Document available in NASA Historical Reference Collection, History Office, NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC. Page references to original document in brackets.

[1]

Space Station

April 11, 1983

Objective

A study will be conducted to establish the basis for an Administration decision on whether or not to proceed with the NASA development of a permanently based, manned Space Station. This NSSD establishes the Terms of Reference for this study.

Guidelines

The specific policy issues to be addressed are the following (responsible agencies are indicated in parenthesis):

  • How will a manned Space Station contribute to the maintenance of U.S. space leadership and to the other goals contained in our National Space Policy? (NASA)
  • How will a manned Space Station best fulfill national and international requirements versus other means of satisfying them? (NASA/State for national and international civil space requirements; DOD/DCI for national security needs.)
  • What are the national security implications of a manned Space Station? (DOD/DCI)
  • What are the foreign policy implications, including arms control implications, of a manned Space Station? (State/NASA/ACDA)
  • What is the overall economic and social impact of a manned Space Station? (NASA/Commerce/State)

These five policy issues will be addressed for each of the four scenarios outlined below.

In order to assess the policy issues in a balanced fashion, NASA will provide a background paper outlining four example scenarios that represent possible approaches for the continuation of this nation’s manned space program. These example scenarios are: [2]

  • Space Shuttle and Unmanned Satellites
  • Space Shuttle and Unmanned Platforms
  • Space Shuttle and an Evolutionary/Incrementally Developed Space Station
  • Space Shuttle and a Fully Functional Space Station A separate, unrelated, generic space requirements paper will be produced for use in addressing the national policy issues. The representative set of requirements for each space sector will be provided by DOD/DCI for national security and NASA/DOC for civil programs. A drafting group consisting of representatives of the DCI, DOD, DOC and NASA will coalesce the requirements into a single document. It will represent currently identifiable official agency statements of requirements for a Space Station. Long-term agency requirements and objectives should also be included.

Implementation

A Working Group under the Senior Interagency Group for Space has been established to conduct this study. The Working Group is chaired by NASA and includes representatives from DOD, DOC, DCI, DOS, and ACDA. The Working Group will produce a summary paper that assesses the issues and identifies policy options. Results of the study will be presented to the SIG (Space) not later than September 1983 prior to presentation to the President. Papers produced by the Working Group will not be distributed outside the Executive Branch without the approval of the SIG (Space). The SIG (Space) may issue more detailed Terms of Reference to implement this study.

/signed/

Ronald Reagan

Illustration of the baseline configuration of a proposed space station in the 1980s
In response to President Reagan’s directive to NASA to develop a permanent marned Space Station within a decade, part of the State of the Union message to Congress on January 25, 1984, NASA and the Administration adopted a phased approach to Station development. This approach provided an initial capability at reduced costs, to be followed by an enhanced Space Station capability in the future. This illustration depicts the baseline configuration, which features a 110-meter-long horizontal boom with four pressurized modules attached in the middle. Located at each end are four photovoltaic arrays generating a total of 75-kW of power. Two attachment points for external payloads are provided along this boom. The four pressurized modules include the following: A laboratory and habitation module provided by the United States; two additional laboratories, one each provided by the European Space Agency (ESA) and Japan; and an ESA-provided Man-Tended Free Flyer, a pressurized module capable of operations both attached to and separate from the Space Station core. Canada was expected to provide the first increment of a Mobile Serving System.

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