Bold Orion The Bold Orion missile , also known as Weapons System 199B ( WS - 199B ) , was a prototype air - launched ballistic missile ( ALBM ) developed by Martin Aircraft during the 1950s . Developed in both one - and two - stage designs , the missile was moderately successful in testing , and helped pave the way for development of the GAM - 87 Skybolt ALBM . In addition , the Bold Orion was used in early anti - satellite weapons testing , performing the first interception of a satellite by a missile . Design and development . The Bold Orion missile was developed as part of Weapons System 199 , initiated by the United States Air Force ( USAF ) in response to the U . S . Navy ' s Polaris program , with funding authorised by the United States Congress in 1957 . The purpose of WS - 199 was the development of technology that would be used in new strategic weapons for the USAF ' s Strategic Air Command , not to deliver operational weapons ; a primary emphasis was on proving the feasibility of an air - launched ballistic missile . The designation WS - 199B was assigned to the project that , under a contract awarded in 1958 to Martin Aircraft , would become the Bold Orion missile . The design of Bold Orion was simple , utilizing parts developed for other missile systems to reduce the cost and development time of the project . The initial Bold Orion configuration was a single - stage vehicle , utilising a Thiokol TX - 20 Sergeant solid - fuel rocket . Following initial testing , the Bold Orion configuration was altered to become a two - stage vehicle , an Allegany Ballistics Laboratory Altair upper stage being added to the missile . Operational history . Having been given top priority by the Air Force , the first flight test of the Bold Orion missile was conducted on May 26 , 1958 , from a Boeing B - 47 Stratojet carrier aircraft , which launched the Bold Orion vehicle at the apex of a high - speed , high - angle climb . The zoom climb tactic , combined with the thrust from the rocket motor of the missile itself , allowed the missile to achieve its maximum range , or , alternatively , to reach space . A twelve - flight test series of the Bold Orion vehicle was conducted ; however , despite suffering only one outright failure , the initial flight tests of the single - stage rocket proved less successful than hoped . Authorisation was received to modify the Bold Orion to become a two - stage vehicle ; in addition to the modifications improving the missile ' s reliability , they increased the range of Bold Orion to over . Four of the final six test firings were of the two - stage vehicle ; these were considered completely successful , and established that the ALBM was a viable weapon . ASAT test . The final test launch of Bold Orion , conducted on October 13 , 1959 , was a test of the vehicle ' s capabilities in the anti - satellite role . Launched from an altitude of from its B - 47 mothership , the missile successfully intercepted the Explorer 6 satellite , passing its target at a range of less than at an altitude of . Had the missile been fitted with a nuclear warhead , the satellite would have been destroyed . The Bold Orion ASAT test was the first interception of a satellite by any method , proving that anti - satellite missiles were feasible . However this test , along with an earlier , unsuccessful test of the High Virgo missile in the anti - satellite role , had political repercussions ; the Eisenhower administration sought to establish space as a neutral ground for everyone ' s usage , and the " indication of hostile intent " the tests were seen to give was frowned upon , with anti - satellite weapons development being curtailed shortly thereafter . Legacy . The results of the Bold Orion project , along with those from the testing of the High Virgo missile , also developed under WS - 199 , provided data and knowledge that assisted the Air Force in forming the requirements for the follow - on WS - 138A , which would produce the GAM - 87 Skybolt missile .