[citation needed] The original mission of BMDO was comparable to that of SAFEGUARD, which was to defend U.S. ballistic missile sites, but BMDO additionally had the more general role of conducting research and development in advanced ballistic missile defense (BMD) technology and also managed what was then called the Kwajalein Missile Range (KMR).

[4] BMDO became better known in the public eye in 1994 when it launched a space probe, Clementine, to the Moon, in collaboration with NASA.

BMDO was primarily interested in field testing new satellite and space reconnaissance technologies incorporated in Clementine, technologies which enabled Clementine to discover pockets of ice at the Moon's south pole.

BMDO was renamed the Missile Defense Agency in 2002 by the administration of President George W. Bush.

Redstone Arsenal, Alabama: U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command (SMDC/ARSTRAT).