Brigadier Geneneral William G."Bill" King, a Lt. Col. in 1954, initiated the Air Force Weapon System 117L (WS117L) satellite program at Wright Field. He was an advocate of the findings of the initial RAND report on the feasibility of space-based systems and successfully convinced AF leadership of its value. WS117L launched its first satellite, Discoverer I, using a Thor/Agena in February 1959, a scant 16 months after Sputnik I. Compared to Sputnik I, Discoverer was truly a sophisticated satellite. "Discoverer" was the unclassified cover name for the highly classified CORONA Reconnaisance Satellite program.
General King began his distinguished military career as an ROTC graduate from Kansas State University where he was commissioned a 2nd Lt. in the Coast Artillery Corps. He completed his undergraduate training after World War II at KSU with a BS in civil engineering. He accepted a regular commission in 1947 and became a member of the USAF upon its formation in that year. After completing guided missile training at Ft. Bliss in 1949, he was assigned to the newly formed Proving Center at Patrick AFB, FL. Not only did he participate in the surveys that built the eastern down range stations, he also commanded one of them for a time.
In 1954 General King received his MBA from the University of Chicago and was posted to the Air Research and Development Command at Wright-Patterson AFB where he served as project officer for the Snark and the Advanced Reconnaissance Systems. In July of 1959 he began a series of assignments at Los Angeles. These assignments included Commander of the Air Force Satellite Control Facility and Director of Special Projects, Office of the Secretary of the Air Force. His Los Angeles tours were interrupted by an assignment as Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations, Hq. Air Force Systems Command. General King was promoted to brigadier general in June 1968. He retired from the Air Force in March 1971 after 28 years of service.
After leaving the Air Force, General King joined Aerojet Electro System Company in Azusa, California as Vice President and General Manager of the Space Surveillance Division. He retired at Aerojet after 18 years in their employ. In May 1989, the National Space Club honored General King and a few other "Space Pioneers" in their Salute to Air Force Achievements in Space. We are proud to have General King as a founding member of the Air Force Space Operations Association.
