DOW-UAP-D124, AAWSAP DIRD, Space Access: Where We’ve Been and Where We Could Go, March 2010
This document is a Defense Intelligence Reference Document (DIRD), a technical reference format used by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) to capture baseline knowledge on a specific topic for later analytic use. DIRDs are best understood as reference and synthesis products rather than as original research. It is one of 38 DIRDs produced under the Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program (AAWSAP) between 2009 and 2011. Because AAWSAP’s scope permitted a broad range of supporting topics, not every DIRD in the series directly concerns aerospace systems or future threat assessment. The following summary reflects the DIRD’s scope and framing at the time of writing and should not be read as implying current validation of the concepts discussed. This DIRD is a historical and conceptual survey of space access systems, contending that the main barrier to routine access to space is a failure to build durable, reliable, operational hardware and the supporting infrastructure needed for regular service to and from low Earth orbit. The report reviews earlier launch and aerospace concepts, especially reusable and aircraft-like approaches, and suggests that U.S. space access development became too strongly centered on expendable rockets derived from ballistic missiles rather than bespoke systems designed for repeated space access and payload delivery. Its central claim is that meaningful future progress will depend on creating a purpose-built space transportation infrastructure, including frequent round-trip capability and orbital support networks, rather than continuing to rely on one-off launch vehicles. Overall, the document presents a forceful case for infrastructure-first space development, though its characterization of past technological choices is more assertive than a fully neutral account of past U.S. space programming.
The summary above is sourced from the released file metadata as published to war.gov. The analysis sections below are original to this tracker.
Where this file fits in the PURSUE archive
This file is one of DoD's 257 files in the Trump PURSUE disclosure. Within the DoD agency block it ranks #225 of 257 by Anomalousness Index. Across the entire 450-file archive it ranks #399 of 450.
That places it in the lower-scoring band of the archive (399 of 450 by score), typical of investigative-record style files where the report is paper-based rather than instrumented.
Anomalousness Index: 53/100
This is a reference document, not an encounter report, so the index has no encounter to measure here. The value above is the rubric's default for a document that describes no event, shown so every file in the archive can be ranked the same way. Not a probability of extraterrestrial origin - that number is not honestly computable from the released files and this tracker refuses to publish it.
🤖 AI-ASSISTED SCORING · methodology
The six rubric components break down for this file as follows. Each component has a weighted contribution to the final score; the per-component explanation below describes what this file's particular value on that component means in the rubric's framework.
This file is a reference document, not an observation, so no sensor, camera, or witness captured anything. The rubric's sensor axis has no not-applicable option, so a document with no instrument record sits on its lowest tier by default.
There is no witness: this is a document released by the Department of War, not a first-hand account. The rubric assigns this axis from the originating body, so the value reflects the source of the record, not anyone's testimony.
Nothing is being corroborated, because the file does not report an event. Like every file in the archive it takes the rubric's single-source default.
The file describes no object and no motion, so the kinematic axis takes the archive-wide 'no kinematic data' default.
Every file in the archive scores this tier. For a document that describes no event it carries no information about the record at all.
The rubric's default for the file's release status (files released with redactions are catalogued as unresolved, unredacted ones as open). For a document that reports no event this describes how the file was released, not anything that happened.
Bottom line on the score: the 53/100 is the rubric's default for a document that reports no encounter, so it is not a finding about any event and should not be compared with the scores of sighting reports. For the full per-axis weights and the rubric JSON, see /methodology.
Related files in DoD
Other PURSUE files in the same category, ranked by Anomalousness Index.
DOW-UAP-PR024, Unresolved UAP Report, Middle East, 2023
DOW-UAP-PR072, "ADMINISTRATIVE REVISION: IIR 1777 J0032 22 Kazakhstan - UAP in the vicinit…
DOW-UAP-PR106, Unresolved UAP Report, Eastern United States, 2020
DOW-UAP-PR108, Unresolved UAP Report, Western United States, 2020
DOW-UAP-PR109, Unresolved UAP Report, Eastern United States, 2015
DOW-UAP-PR110, Unresolved UAP Report, Eastern United States, 2020
Verification
SHA-256:
This hash is the SHA-256 of the file body war.gov served on the verification date above. War.gov has re-processed some file bodies since first release (re-compression + OCR, no content removed - see /changes); we re-verify and record the change rather than silently serve a stale hash. How to check this yourself →