ASM - 135 ASAT The ASM - 135 ASAT is an air - launched anti - satellite multistage missile that was developed by Ling - Temco - Vought ' s LTV Aerospace division . The ASM - 135 was carried exclusively by the United States Air Force ( USAF ) ' s F - 15 Eagle fighter aircraft . Development . Starting in the late 1950s , the United States began development of anti - satellite weapons . The first United States anti - satellite weapon was Bold Orion Weapon System 199B . Like the ASM - 135 , the Bold Orion missile was air - launched ; but in this case from a B - 47 Stratojet . The Bold Orion was tested in 19 October 1959 against the Explorer 6 satellite . The two - stage Bold Orion missile passed within 4 miles ( 6 . 4 km ) of Explorer 6 . From this distance , only a relatively large yield nuclear warhead would likely have destroyed the target . Starting in 1960 the Department of Defense ( DoD ) started a program called SPIN ( SPace INtercept ) . In 1962 , the United States Navy launched Caleb rockets as part of the Satellite Interceptor Program , with the objective of developing an anti - satellite weapon . The United States developed direct ascent anti - satellite weapons . A United States Army Nike Zeus missile armed with a nuclear warhead destroyed an orbiting satellite in May 1963 . One missile from this system known as Project MUDFLAP and later as Project 505 was available for launch from 1964 until 1967 . A nuclear - armed Thor anti - satellite system deployed by the United States Air Force under Program 437 eventually replaced the Project 505 Nike Zeus in 1967 . The Program 437 Thor missile system remained in limited deployment until 1975 . One drawback of nuclear - armed anti - satellite weapons was that they could also damage United States reconnaissance satellites . As a result , the United States anti - satellite weapons development efforts were re - directed to develop systems that did not require the use of nuclear weapons . After the Soviet Union demonstrated an operational co - orbital anti - satellite system , in 1978 , U . S . President Jimmy Carter directed the USAF to develop and deploy a new anti - satellite system . In 1978 , the USAF started a new program initially designated the Prototype Miniature Air - Launched Segment ( PMALS ) and Air Force System Command ' s Space Division established a system program office . The USAF issued a Request for Proposal for the Air - Launched Miniature Vehicle ( ALMV ) . The requirement was for an air - launched missile that could be used against satellites in low Earth orbit . In 1979 , the USAF issued a contract to LTV Aerospace to begin work on the ALMV . The LTV Aerospace design featured a multi - stage missile with an infrared homing kinetic energy warhead . Design . The ASM - 135 was designed to be launched from an F - 15A in a supersonic zoom climb . The F - 15 ' s mission computer and heads - up display were modified to provide steering directions for the pilot . The actual intercept was done subsonically . A modified Boeing AGM - 69 SRAM missile with a Lockheed Propulsion Company LPC - 415 solid propellant two pulse rocket engine was used as the first stage of the ASM - 135 ASAT . The LTV Aerospace Altair 3 was used as the second stage of the ASM - 135 . The Altair 3 used the Thiokol FW - 4S solid propellant rocket engine . The Altair 3 stage was also used as the fourth stage for the Scout rocket and had been previously used in both the Bold Orion and HiHo anti - satellite weapons efforts . The Altair was equipped with Hydrazine fueled thrusters that could be used to point the missile towards the target satellite . LTV Aerospace also provided the third stage for the ASM - 135 ASAT . This stage was called Miniature Homing Vehicle ( MHV ) intercepter . Prior to being deployed the second stage was used to spin the MHV up to approximately 30 revolutions per second and point the MHV towards the target . A Honeywell ring laser gyroscope was used for spin rate determination and to obtain an inertial timing reference before the MHV separated from the second stage . The infrared sensor was developed by Hughes Research Laboratories . The sensor utilized a strip detector where four strips of Indium Bismuth were arranged in a cross and four strips were arranged as logarithmic spirals . As the detector was spun , the infrared target ' s position could be measured and as it crossed the strips in the sensors field of view . The MHV infrared detector was cooled by liquid helium from a dewar installed in place of the F - 15 ' s gun ammunition drum and from a smaller dewar located in the second stage of the ASM - 135 . Cryogenic lines from the second stage were retracted prior to the spin up of the MHV . The MHV guidance system solely tracked targets in the field of view of the infrared sensor , but did not determine altitude , attitude , or range to the target . Direct Proportional Line of Sight guidance used information from the detector to maneuver and null out any line - of - sight change . A Bang - bang control system was used to fire 56 full charge " divert " and lower thrust 8 half charge " end - game " solid rocket motors arranged around the circumference of the MHV . The half charge 8 " end - game " motors were used to perform finer trajectory adjustments just prior to intercepting the target satellite . Four pods at the rear of the MHV contained small attitude control rocket motors . These motors were used to damp off center rotation by the MHV . Test launches . On 21 December 1982 , an F - 15A was used to perform the first captive carry ASM - 135 test flight from the Air Force Flight Test Center , Edwards AFB , California in the United States . On 20 August 1985 President Reagan authorized a test against a satellite . The test was delayed to provide notice to the United States Congress . The target was the Solwind P78 - 1 , an orbiting solar observatory that was launched on 24 February 1979 . On 13 September 1985 , Maj . Wilbert D . " Doug " Pearson , flying the " Celestial Eagle " F - 15A 76 - 0084 launched an ASM - 135 ASAT about 200 miles ( 322 km ) west of Vandenberg Air Force Base and destroyed the Solwind P78 - 1 satellite flying at an altitude of 345 miles ( 555 km ) . Prior to the launch the F - 15 flying at Mach 1 . 22 executed a 3 . 8g zoom climb at an angle of 65 degrees . The ASM - 135 ASAT was automatically launched at 38 , 100 ft while the F - 15 was flying at Mach . 934 . The 30 lb ( 13 . 6 kg ) MHV collided with the 2 , 000 lb ( 907 kg ) Solwind P78 - 1 satellite at closing velocity of 15 , 000 mph ( 24 , 140 km / h ) . NASA learned of U . S . Air Force plans for the Solwind ASAT test in July 1985 . NASA modeled the effects of the test . This model determined that debris produced would still be in orbit in the 1990s . It would force NASA to enhance debris shielding for its planned space station . Earlier the U . S . Air Force and NASA had worked together to develop a Scout - launched target vehicle for ASAT experiments . NASA advised the U . S . Air Force on how to conduct the ASAT test to avoid producing long - lived debris . However , congressional restrictions on ASAT tests intervened . In order to complete an ASAT test before an expected Congressional ban took effect ( as it did in October 1985 ) , the DoD determined to use the existing Solwind astrophysics satellite as a target . NASA worked with the DoD to monitor the effects of the tests using two orbital debris telescopes and a reentry radar deployed to Alaska . NASA assumed the torn metal would be bright . Surprisingly , the Solwind pieces turned out to appear so dark as to be almost undetectable . Only two pieces were seen . NASA Scientists theorized that the unexpected Solwind darkening was due to carbonization of organic compounds in the target satellite ; that is , when the kinetic energy of the projectile became heat energy on impact , the plastics inside Solwind vaporized and condensed on the metal pieces as soot . NASA utilized U . S . Air Force infrared telescopes to show that the pieces were warm with heat absorbed from the Sun . This added weight to the contention that they were dark with soot and not reflective . The pieces decayed quickly from orbit , implying a large area - to - mass ratio . According to NASA , as of January 1998 , 8 of 285 trackable pieces remained in orbit . The Solwind test had three important results : In the end , the Solwind ASAT test had few consequences for the planned U . S . space station as station completion was pushed beyond the mid - 1990s . The record - high level of solar activity during the 1989 - 1991 solar maximum heated and expanded the atmosphere more than anticipated in 1985 , accelerating Solwind debris decay . 15 ASM - 135 ASAT missiles were produced and 5 missiles were flight tested . Operational history . The United States Air Force intended to modify 20 F - 15A fighters from the 318th Fighter Interceptor Squadron based at McChord Air Force Base in Washington and the 48th Fighter - Interceptor Squadron based at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia for the anti - satellite mission . Both squadrons had airframes modified to support the ASM - 135 by the time the project was cancelled in 1988 . The USAF had planned to deploy an operational force of 112 ASM - 135 missiles . The deployment of the ASM - 135 was central to a policy debate in the United States over the strategic need for an anti - satellite weapon and the potential for anti - satellite weapon arms control with the Soviet Union . Starting in 1983 , the United States Congress starting placing various restrictions on the ASM - 135 program . In December 1985 , included a ban on testing the ASM - 135 on a target in space . This decision was made only a day after the Air Force sent two target satellites into orbit for its next round of tests . The Air Force continued to test the ASAT system in 1986 , but stayed within the limits of the ban by not engaging a space - borne target . In the same year the deployment of the ASM - 135 was estimated to cost $ 5 . 3 billion ( US ) up from the original $ 500 million ( US ) estimate . The USAF scaled back the ASM - 135 program by two - thirds in attempt to control costs . The USAF also never strongly supported the program and proposed canceling the program in 1987 . In 1988 , the Reagan Administration canceled the ASM - 135 program because of technical problems , testing delays , and significant cost growth .