In the midst of an 18-month developmental stage, the proposal may put an end to the space-based radar system chiefly because of cost concerns, despite support from the Senate Appropriations Committee, and Senate and House Armed Services committees.

Discoverer II aids in the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance of ground stations worldwide via satellites. In operations like Allied Force, for instance, Discoverer II could identify and track camouflaged and moving vehicles such as Serbian tanks.

Ironically, money was the driving factor behind the invention of Discoverer II.

Hailed by Air Force Secretary Whit Peters as a project paramount to the space program, Discoverer II was developed to expand battlefield awareness by complementing airborne assets like U-2s, unmanned aerial vehicles and the highly touted Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System.

Peters said during his confirmation testimony that Discoverer II is essential to making the Joint STARS program survivable, since it provides a financial alternative to the expensive, yet effective JSTARS.

"It's already a disaster waiting to happen because there are too few of them (JSTARS) and we'll never be able to afford enough of them," Secretary Peters said during his hearing with the Senate Armed Service Committee July 30.

The E-8C JSTARS, an airborne intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance weapon system, was highly successful in the Balkans.

With such a high impact on JSTARS, Discoverer II's demise may prove more costly than its $600 million price tag. The joint venture of the National Reconnaissance Office, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the Air Force selected three contractors to form teams to perform system capabilities and other necessary tests during its current Phase One stage, valued at an estimated $60 million.

Should the project survive and the demonstration system advance to the second phase, two satellites would be launched into space using medium-launch vehicles such as the Delta II or the evolved expendable launch vehicle. Given continued success after a year of orbiting the earth, the constellation would grow to 24 satellites to increase reconnaissance and surveillance.

Each satellite is expected to cost $100 million throughout the 20-year life cycle of the system.

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