Access - no single word better describes the primary concern of the exploration and development of space. Every participant in space activities - civil, military, scientific, or commercial - needs affordable, reliable, frequent, and flexible access to space. To Reach the High Frontier details the histories of the various space access vehicles developed in the United States since the birth of the space age in 1957. Even with four decades of public and private effort, access to space remains problematic. The core of the U.S.'s present launch capability, the Atlas, Titan, and Delta launchers, though much evolved, originated as military ballistic missiles in the 1950s. In fact, all U.S. launchers, including NASA's Saturn and Space Shuttle systems, have involved significant government input, as well as the efforts of private contractors. The technical challenge of reaching space with chemical rockets, the high costs associated with space launch, the long lead times necessary for scheduling flights, and the poor reliability of the rockets themselves show launch vehicles to be the space program's most difficult challenge.
This book presents case studies in the history of all the major rockets built by the United States. Each study has been written by a specialist knowledgeable about the vehicle described and places each system in the larger context of the history of spaceflight.