AIAA Undergraduate Homeland Defense Interceptor; Analysis of the Circumstances Surrounding the Creation of a Complete US Defense System during the Cold War

The Reagan administration sought to end the idea of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) with the creation of the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI). Rather than rely on the continued trust in the Soviet Union, the creation of a defense program would allow the US and its citizens to be protected by the US itself. This paper utilizes the Social Construction of Technology (SCOT) to analyze the key players and events which contributed to the waste of resources by this project. The SDI program faced significant challenges technologically, financially, and politically which led to questions about its feasibility.
Several figures, including Edward Teller, one of the significant players in the creation of the Hydrogen bomb, advocated for the initiative which outweighed the criticism from lesser-known scientists. This paper also seeks to show the influence the Cold War tensions and the Arms Race possessed to further influence and support Teller’s arguments for the SDI. A major player in the creation of the SDI program was the American people pushing for a safety net to permit them to lead normal lives.
A detailed review of documents, government reports, and scientific papers was completed to shed light on the policies which led to the strained financial resources because of the SDI program and how that shaped future defense spending. The SDI program through a SCOT lens shows the complexities behind designing defense systems with the American people in mind, and the troubles with creating systems to meet lofty ambitions rather than proper strategic ideas.

School of Engineering and Applied Science

Bachelor of Engineering and Applied Science

Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering

Technical Advisor: Thomas Ward

STS Advisor: Bryn Seabrook

Technical Team Members: Agha Mohammad Ali, Savannah Hafer, William Couch, Evan Hahn, June Wiles, Eric Fryer, Matthew Shin, Nora Wilkerson