On September 13, 1985, during a mission dubbed the “Celestial Eagle Flight,” Major Wilbert “Doug” Pearson pushed the “pickle button” in the cockpit of his F-15A and launched an ASM-135A at a real target while in a steep vertical climb flying at 38,100 feet while flying just under Mach 1 over the Pacific Ocean.

Decades before the creation of the United States Space Force, the sixth and newest branch of the United States military, there were already plans in place to bring future conflicts beyond the Earth’s atmosphere. A number of killer satellites have been deployed over the years, but in the late 1970s the U.S. saw that threat. The worry was that the Soviet killer satellites could destroy vital U.S. reconnaissance and communication satellites and developed a variety of anti-satellite missiles to counter the threat.

Among these was the ASM-135A, which was unique in that it wasn’t launched like a rocket from the ground – such as the Nike-Zeus or Thor anti-ballistic missile systems – but rather it could be fired from an aircraft in flight. Airborne tests with “captive” – not launched – anti-satellite missiles (ASATs) that could be fired from modified F-15 fighters began in 1982.

Additional tests were conducted over the Pacific Ocean where the ASAT was launched at a specific point in space and fired, but no actual target was involved.

Finally, on September 13, 1985, during a mission dubbed the “Celestial Eagle Flight,” Major Wilbert “Doug” Pearson pushed the “pickle button” in the cockpit of his F-15A and launched an ASM-135A at a real target while in a steep vertical climb flying at 38,100 feet while flying just under Mach 1 over the Pacific Ocean. It was quite an accomplishment to aim and fire the ASM-135A ASAT at the Solwind P78-1 solar observation satellite, which was operational but several of its instruments were failing.

The satellite was also moving at 17,500mph some 300 miles above the F-16A – a target Pearson couldn’t see. He had to wait for confirmation that the ASAT was able to lock on and destroy its target – and he was soon told from ground control that he was indeed successful. For the first time in history a satellite had been shot out of space by an airplane!