National Security Study Directive 5-83,
"Space Station," April 11, 1983.
[Editorial headnote: 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 Document available in NASA Historical Reference Collection, History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. -- Roger D. Launius, NASA Chief Historian]
[1] April 11, 1983
SPACE STATION
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