[3] Calls for an anti-satellite weapon started days after the launch of Sputnik in 1957, but president Eisenhower was concerned about the militarization of space and limited such work to studies only.

President Kennedy inherited SAINT, and in keeping with his policy of achieving a technical lead over the Soviets, allowed hardware development to begin.

By this time it was clear the Soviets were not developing the claimed space-based warheads and the need for such an expensive system to counter non-weapon spacecraft could not be justified.

As a result of advances in countermeasures on Soviet satellites, alongside the development of cheaper anti-satellite methods, the concept was rendered unsuitable.

[4][5] The United States Air Force issued General Operational Requirement-170 on 19 June 1958 ordering the development of a system that was capable of destroying a satellite.

Then the United States Air Force and Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) commissioned studies by the Space Technology Laboratories and the Radio Corporation of America.

[6] The project included the building of a SAINT operation center within the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) complex in Colorado Springs, and the construction of launch facilities that could respond within 12 hours at Cape Canaveral and Vandenberg, along with stations in Florida and Rhodesia.

[3] The third phase of the project included several elements such as a powerful main engine whose propellant was pressure fed, a computer and a unit to measure inertia in order to control maneuvers.

A radiation detector was to be installed to determine if a satellite was carrying either a nuclear weapon or something whose power source involved a radioactive substance.

One of these was to have the satellite carry out a kamikaze attack on the target, while another was to coat it with black paint, blocking its ability to see or transmit, rendering it inoperable.