The Advanced Ballistic Reentry System (ABRES) program, Program 627A, was established as a Defense Department joint-service program for reentry vehicle research, development, and testing. The Deputy for Ballistic Missile Reentry Systems (D/BMRS) office, established at Headquarters Ballistic Systems Division at Norton AFB in February 1963 would manage the program. The program director for ABRES would be Colonel Darwin C. Middlekauff, BSD's Deputy for Ballistic Missile Reentry Systems.

Atlas 109F was the final Atlas research and development flight test missile to be launched. Since the first attempted launch of a Series A Atlas on 11 June 1957, 95 Atlas missiles had been used in the R&D program - eight As, nine Bs, six Cs, 32 Ds, 24 Es, and 16 Fs. All but 12 of these were launched from Cape Canaveral. Of the 95 launches, 57 were considered successful while 38 were failures.

The first Athena test missile was launched from Green River, Utah, toward the White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) in New Mexico. The Athena research rocket was designed for the support of the Advanced Ballistic Reentry Systems (ABRES) program. Subscale models of ballistic reentry vehicles would be flown on the Athenas to test reentry vehicle concepts and phenomena. This first missile only had two operational stages, and several system failures resulted in the premature impact of the missile some 11 miles from Durango, Colorado. This was the first of several hundred launches from Green River, Utah, to impact points in the US Army's White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. The Athena was designed to simulate the re-entry environment of an intercontinental ballistic missile and was one of the few examples of sustained interstate missile tests within the United States.

The functions and personnel of Space Systems Division and Ballistic Systems Division were combined to form the new Space and Missile Systems Organization (SAMSO). Major General Paul T. Cooper, former SSD commander, becoming Deputy Commander for Space, and Major General John L. McCoy, the last BSD commander, becoming Deputy Commander for Missiles. Headquarters SAMSO took over SSD headquarters while General McCoy remained at Norton AFB with the Minuteman and Advanced Ballistic Reentry Systems (ABRES) program offices.

Launched from Vandenberg AFB atop Atlas booster 150F, the third Maneuvering Ballistic Reentry Vehicle (MBRV-3) achieved the first successful flight and reentry of a maneuvering ballistic reentry vehicle in the Advanced Ballistic Reentry Systems (ABRES) program. MBRV-3 successfully accomplished its planned terminal maneuver during reentry, and all objectives were achieved.

The third Athena H rocket was launched from the Green River, Utah, launch complex. The flight test completed qualification of the vehicle for operational use in the Advanced Ballistic Reentry Vehicle (ABRES) program managed by SAMSO's Deputy for Reentry Systems (RS).

An Athena H missile was fired from the launch complex at Green River, Utah, carrying an Advanced Ballistic Reentry System (ABRES) payload. This was the 11th Athena H to be fired from Green River in support of the ABRES program and the 141st Athena to be launched from Green River since the beginning of the program in February 1964. Following this launch, the Green River complex was closed and Athena launch operations were transferred to Wake Island.

Atlas 108F, carrying the Advanced Control Experiment 1 (ACE 1) vehicle, was launched from Vandenberg AFB and impacted in the Kwajalein area. The ACE 1 vehicle was to test the development of a preprototype of maneuvering reentry vehicle (MaRV) as part of the Advanced Ballistic Reentry Systems (ABRES) program.

First use of the Minuteman I booster, replacing the Atlas, for the ABRES program. The Sandia ABRES Materials and Systems Test 02/Miniature Instrumented Nosetip Test (SAMAST 02/MINT) reentry vehicles were successfully launched on a Minuteman I booster out of Vandenberg AFB. The Sandia ABRES Materials and Systems Test 02/Miniature Instrumented Nosetip Test (SAMAST 02/MINT) reentry vehicles were successfully launched on a Minuteman I booster out of Vandenberg AFB.

Surplus Atlas 31F was launched from Vanden-berg AFB carrying a Reentry Vehicles Technology and Observables (RVT0-3A-1) payload. This successful launch and flight marked the apparent end of the use of Atlas D,E, and F ICBMs in support of various Advanced Ballistic Reentry Systems (ABRES) and other governmental agency programs. Since Atlas 159D was launched from Vandenberg AFB on 26 October 1962 in support of the Nike Targets Program, a total of 113 Atlas missiles - 54Ds, 4Es, and 55Fs - have been launched with only 11 failures.

The advanced nosetip test vehicle (A.N.T.)-l was successfully launched from Vandenberg AFB. The purpose of the flight was to test the performance of four nosetips of various materials and shapes with fine-weave carbon-carbon nosetips in high stagnation pressure and clean air.

TDV-1, the first of three technology development vehicle flights in CY 1977, was successfully launched from Vandenberg AFB to the Kwajalein missile range on a Minuteman I booster. It successfully conducted complex experiments dealing with nosetip materials, aerodynamics, and electronics.

TDV-2, the second of three technology development vehicle flights in CY 1977, was successfully launched from Vandenberg AFB to the Kwajalein missile range on a Minuteman I booster. It successfully conducted complex experiments dealing with nosetip materials, aerodynamics, and electronics. A P 06-L star traffic decoy was successfully tested on the same flight.

SAMSO cancelled plans for flight-testing the Transpiration Cooled Nosetip (TCNT). The TCNT, which was an actively cooled reentry vehicle nosetip, had been under development as part of ABRES.Flight-test of the TCNT was cancelled due to funding and design problems that had plagued the development effort.

The ABRES program office participated in a Mark 500 Penetration Aid Concept Selection Study involving the Aerospace Corporation, MIT Lincoln Laboratory, and other contractors. Participants in the study selected a penetration aid concept for the Navy's Trident C4/Mark 500 system.

STREP-1, an ABRES flight test conducted in support of the Army's System Technology Reentry Experiments Program, was launched on a Minuteman I booster from Vandenberg AFB to Kwajalein missile range. The primary mission was successful, but a secondary payload, the advanced Star decoy sponsored by ABRES, deployed improperly because of improper loading, and data on its performance could not be collected.

The Large Ballistic Recovery Vehicle (LBRV) was launched from Vandenberg AFB to Kwajalein lagoon on a Minuteman 1 booster. The purpose of the experiment was to recover the external shell of a Mark 12A reentry vehicle intact after reentry in order to assess the performance of staple-fiber heatshields. The LBRV was successfully

The first Dormant Inertial Navigation System (DINS) flight unit, built by the Avionics Division of Honeywell, Inc. It was delivered to McDonnell Douglas Astronautics Company for installation xn the second scheduled AMaRV flight test vehicle. DINS was a laser-gyro-based strapdown inertial navigation system intended for use on maneuvering reentry vehicles.

The first of two secondary rocket flight tests designated HAVE LENT IV successfully demonstrated the use of aerosol masking dispensers as a penetration aids. The vehicle was a Sergeant-Hydac rocket launched from Barking Sands, Hawaii. Data collection was limited because of erratic behavior of the rocket. The mission was sponsored by ABRES.