To save money, the shuttle was intended to serve as the United States' national launch system for all civilian, military, and classified payloads.
[6] It renovated SLC-6 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California to send shuttles into polar orbits[4] and established the Manned Spaceflight Control Squadron at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.
[10] In 1991, Chief Warrant Officer Thomas J. Hennen, United States Army flew aboard STS-44 as the first military payload specialist since Payton and Pailes, and the first enlisted soldier in space.
The government viewed the flights and their payloads as secret as troop movements, asked media organizations to avoid reporting details, and threatened to investigate even speculation as potential leaks of classified information.
[4] USAF General Ralph G. Jacobson removed MSE David Vidrine from STS-41-C one month before launch, stating that the mission had no value to the Air Force.
The military declined the opportunity to send a second MSE on STS-51-C. New regulations in 1984 strongly encouraged USAF personnel to move to another assignment after four years, causing many early MSEs to transfer out of the program,[6] with only nine active by late 1985.
In 1983 Under Secretary of the Air Force and NRO director Pete Aldridge proposed that DoD continue purchasing uncrewed rockets until the shuttle proved its reliability by flying 24 missions a year.
In February 1984 President Ronald Reagan signed a National Security Decision Directive stating that the shuttle would not be "fully operational" until 24 missions a year, perhaps by 1988.
The Houston squadron was dissolved, construction of the Colorado center ended, the Vandenberg launch site used for uncrewed rockets,[1] and Firing Room 4 closed.