AFROC

The AFROC's letter of approval for the mission needs statement sums it up this way: ORS ensures the Air Force has the capability to rapidly put payloads into orbit and maneuver spacecraft to any point in earth-centered space, and to logistically support them on orbit or return them to earth.

Air Force Space Command (AFSPC) /DR began this analysis in February 2003, and the AFROC approved it about two years later, in April 2005.