President Dwight Eisenhower ordered the Advanced Research Projects Agency into existence on 7 February 1958 in direct response to the Soviet launch of Sputnik 1. Placed under the Office of the Secretary of Defense yet kept independent from the military services, the new agency received a simple mandate: prevent technological surprise and, whenever possible, generate it for the United States.1
Early Leadership
Business executive Roy W. Johnson left General Electric to become the first director, guiding initial work on spaceflight, missile defense, and nuclear-test detection. He was followed by Brigadier General Austin W. Betts and by scientist Jack Ruina, who hired psychologist-computer pioneer J. C. R. Licklider to run the Information Processing Techniques Office. Licklider's vision of interactive computing set the stage for the ARPANET.2
Landmark Programs
DARPA's small teams have repeatedly moved technology from concept to prototype.
Contemporary Focus Areas
Today the agency manages roughly two hundred programs in fields such as artificial intelligence, hypersonic flight, quantum information, advanced biology, and space logistics. Each effort is led by a term-limited program manager who can fund universities, companies, and government labs with minimal bureaucracy, preserving the fast, risk-tolerant culture laid down in 1958.5
Legacy
DARPA's portfolio has shaped modern warfare and civilian life alike, from stealth aircraft and precision weapons to voice assistants, smartphones, and mRNA vaccine technology. Its operating model—small, temporary teams pursuing ambitious technical goals—remains a benchmark for mission-driven research bodies worldwide.