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The idea for Space Mountain came from Walt Disney himself. After the success of the Matterhorn attraction in Disneyland, Walt was convinced that "thrill-rides" had a place in his park. In 1964, with this in mind, Walt approached designer John Hench with an idea for a new Tomorrowland attraction. Walt called the idea the "Space Port", a roller coaster in the dark that would feature creative lighting and other special effects to give the illusion that guests were in space<ref> http://allears.net/ae/issue695.htm </ref>.

Concept art for the attraction was created by Hench, Clem Hall, George Mcginnis and Herb Ryman. Early on, the attraction's name was changed to "Space VoyageVenture", and ideas for it continued to be refined<ref> http://www.mouseplanet.com/7135/WDWs_Space_Mountain</ref>. To help make the attraction a reality, WED partnered with the Arrow Development Company, who had helped to design the Matterhorn track. In June of 1966 WED employees voted, and decided to change the name once again, this time to Space Mountain. Plans for Space Mountain were put on hold indefinably however, in 1966 when Walt Disney died. After Walt’s passing, a new company wide focus was put on completing Walt Disney World. This, combined with the spatial and technological limitations of Disneyland made the construction of Space Mountain unfeasible for the time being. Although the Space Mountain idea was dead in Disneyland, it soon found life in the newly constructed Walt Disney World. The popularity of the new park surpassed even Disney's expectations, and Disney World proved to be especially popular with teenagers and young adults. Almost as soon as the park opened, plans were made for a new thrill ride<ref> http://www.mouseplanet.com/7135/WDWs_Space_Mountain</ref>.  Disney’s first choice for a thrill ride was to construct and east coast version of the Matterhorn. It soon became apparent however that Walt Disney World’s Fantasyland was not big enough to house the iconic attraction. Instead, Disney decided to revisit the tabled Space Mountain idea, as Disney World’s Tomorrowland had more than enough space for expansion <ref> http://disneylandreport.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-history-of-space-mountain.html.</ref> With the new location in mind, Imagineers back to work on the development of the coaster. One early decision that Disney made was to develop the track for Space Mountain “in house” as opposed to using the Arrow Development Company. WED Engineers further decided to make the coaster a "pure gravity" ride, meaning that Space Mountain would feature no boosters or retarders <ref> http://www.mouseplanet.com/7135/WDWs_Space_Mountain</ref>. . One of the next decisions that Disney had to make involved sponsorship. Like many of the early Walt Disney World attractions, sponsorship money was an intricate part of Space Mountain’s creation. Accepting Disney’s offer of sponsorship, RCA agreed to give 10 million dollars towards the construction of the coaster <ref> http://www.mouseplanet.com/10533/Remembering_the_Magic_Space_Mountain </ref>. Due to this agreement, Space Mountain’s original queue and post show were designed to feature RCA products <ref> http://www.mouseplanet.com/7135/WDWs_Space_Mountain </ref>. Although the basic concept of the attraction was agreed upon, the final designs of the interior structure, queue and post show all changed various times before Space Mountain was finally built. The shape of Space Mountain was also a topic of debate amongst Disney Imagineers. Some wanted Space Mountain to look like a dome, while others wanted to use a "cone" shape. The cone shape idea eventually won out, and on January 15, 1975 Space Mountain officially opened.