Blasts from the Past.

A look at stories from the pages of National Defense as NDIA and the magazine approach their 100th anniversary.

The idea for "operationally responsive space" was in its infancy when China launched its infamous anti-satellite test January 11, 2007. That gave the idea of plug-and-play satellites that could be configured within days to replace capabilities lost in a space conflict--along with on-demand launch vehicles--a big boost.

Soon, the Air Force's Operationally Responsive Space Office was born. National Defense traveled to Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, to get a series of briefings on the new concept, which resulted in one of the staff's all-time favorite covers--an illustration of a satellite being constructed out of Legos.

In the following years, the ORS office received less and less attention, and it got to the point where funding was zeroed out in a presidential budget proposal. Former Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James' nomination was held up in Congress until the service agreed to restore the office's funding.

A decade after the July 2007 cover story...