

The experiments carried out in each vault varied. In addition, most vaults were designed to conduct often immoral experiments on live human test subjects. The true reason for the construction of the vaults was to allow the government to secretly study pre-selected segments of the American population, observe how they would react to the stresses of isolation, and how successfully they would re-colonize the devastated Earth after the vault opened. In actuality, the vaults were never intended to save anyone. Officially the vaults were part of Project Safehouse, intended to protect American citizens from a nuclear holocaust, however they actually had a more sinister purpose, a project known as "the Societal Preservation Program". Project Safehouse and the Societal Preservation Program Most vaults were completed by 2063, the last vault was completed by 2074. An extensive commercial campaign was set up, using advertisements and products, as well as an exhibit in the Museum of Technology in Washington D.C. Construction of the first vaults begins in late 2054, a demonstration vault is unveiled in Los Angeles. government officially announces Project Safehouse, in light of the European-Middle Eastern War and the Great Plague scare. The first canon record of Vault-Tec dates to 2053, when Vault-Tec brings online ZAX 1.0, a prototype of a supercomputer designed to govern the vaults.

Non canon information from the cancelled Fallout Van Buren indicates that Vault-Tec was already testing it's recycling and water purification systems in Tibbets Prison in 2040.

It is also unclear when Project Safehouse was initiated by the U.S. Not much is known about how Vault-Tec was founded, and it is unclear of the corporation existed before it was contracted by the government. 1.1 Project Safehouse and the Societal Preservation Program.
