Overview: This study traces the origins and development of the Gambit and Hexagon programs. It details the technological problems, breakthroughs, and accomplishments encountered as NRO, CIA, Air Force, and private industry engineers, designers, and program managers pushed the cutting edge of space reconnaissance technology. It outlines the evolving close partnership and working relationship between the NRO and industry in pursuing far-reaching scientific...

From the front jacket flap: Contrary to widespread expectations in the wake of Sputnik, outer space did not immediately become a new arena for a superpower arms competition. Although the United States and the Soviet Union began to use space extensively for military purposes, both exhibited relatively little interest in the development of space weaponry. By the beginning of the 1980s, however, an arms race in space seemed inevitable. Now both the United...