PREFACE: The rudimentary technology needed to build a Space Based Laser system and secretly put it into orbit cheaply, the computers, the laser, stealth space shuttle and nuclear thermal rocket engine existed in 1965. General Curtis LeMay's prediction that a laser defense system would be in orbit by 1970 as stated in the Popular Mechanix January 1963 article were then realized.
https://thearea51blog.blogspot.com/2016/04/the-miracle-light-beam-from-mechanix.html
The 1963 memo calling for a secret satellite deployment system.
The PHOEBUS 2A reached the needed power levels to propel the ASPEN on 26 June 1968 (NASA 1991). This was three years after Bussard's prediction for ROVER. He had predicted that ROVER would reach a power level of 4.9 Gigawatts by 1965 (Atomic Energy Commission, 1961). This could be a sign of a NASA misinformation campaign. This definitely shows that America had created a rocket engine that could put a pound of payload into orbit for $16.53 in July 1968 dollars or $118.20 in 2018 CPI inflation adjusted dollars (Dewar and Bussard, 2009). It would have even been cheaper using an all nuclear ASPEN. The ANP/NEPA goal was to build a supersonic plane that ran exclusively on nuclear power (The Comptroller General Of The United States, 1963). Therefore the technology was there to build the ASPEN and cheaply deploy defensive space weaponry in the form of lasers into orbit in 1968.
This would not necessarily violate the Outer Space Treaty of 1967 because defensive lasers do not fall into the WMD category (Unoosa.org, 2018) . If an ASPEN was built before 1968 - there is ample reason to believe the needed power levels were reached before this - America probably put nuclear weapons into space under the CAMAL program. There are loopholes in this treaty. If, for example, the USA put an ORION into orbit, they could have put nuclear explosives in space that have a peaceful purpose (Dyson, 2003). Because they are used to propel the space craft. These charges could very easily be converted over to weapons purposes.
Atomic Energy Commission (1961). ASPEN : AN AEROSPACE PLANE WITH NUCLEAR ENGINES. Los Alamos: University Of California, p.10.
http://lib-www.lanl.gov/cgi-bin/getfile?00384860.pdf
Comptroller General Of The United States (1963). REPORT TO THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES: REVIEW OF MANNED AIRCRAFT NUCLEAR PROPULSION PROGRAM ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION AND DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE. [online] Washington D.C., p.Comptroller General of the United States. Available at: https://fas.org/nuke/space/anp-gao1963.pdf [Accessed 29 Apr. 2018].
Dewar, J. and Bussard, R. (2009). The nuclear rocket. Burlington, Ont.: Apogee Books.
https://www.amazon.com/Nuclear-Rocket-Making-Peaceful-Prosperous/dp/189495999X/
Dyson, G. (2003). Project Orion. New York: Henry Holt.
https://www.amazon.com/Project-Orion-Story-Atomic-Spaceship/dp/0805072845
NASA (1991). ROVER NUCLEAR ROCKET ENGINE PROGRAM: OVERVIEW OF ROVER ENGINE TESTS FINAL REPORT. Huntsville, Alabama: NASA, p.70.
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19920005899.pdf
Unoosa.org. (2018). Outer Space Treaty. [online] Available at: http://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/ourwork/spacelaw/treaties/outerspacetreaty.html [Accessed 27 Apr. 2018].
THE NECESSARY COMPUTER POWER FOR SDI WAS AVAILABLE IN 1963
The product announcement for the CDC 6600 was made in 1963. This computer had the necessary computing power to run the programs used to shoot down missiles ("CDC 6600"). The successor to the computer the CDC 7600 was actually used by the Air Force to track Soviet ICBM's. Megawatt lasers were built in 1963 (Targ 98). The SNAP family of reactors were being developed in the 1960's to power the manned satellites such as the MOL ( 88 AIR FORCE WEAPONS LABORATORY). These reactors were being developed to produce electrical power in the multi-megawatt range; the range needed to power the computers and lasers for a space based laser. So, all the pieces of the puzzle were there.
BIBLIOGRAPHY/SOURCES:
AIR FORCE WEAPONS LABORATORY. SNAP REACTOR OVERVIEW. Air Force Systems Command, Kirtland Air Force Base, NM, 1984, pp. 82-89.
Biddle, Wayne. "'Star Wars' Technology: It's More Than A Fantasy". The New York Times, 1985, p.
"CDC 6600". En.Wikipedia.Org, 2018, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CDC_6600. Accessed 19 June 2018.
"CDC 7600". En.Wikipedia.Org, 2018, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CDC_7600. Accessed 19 June 2018. A1.
Targ, Russell. Do You See What I See?. Hampton Roads Pub. Co., 2008
