18-559: KH-5 ARGON was a series of reconnaissance satellites produced by the United States from February 1961 to August 1964. The KH-5 operated similarly to the CORONA series of satellites, as it ejected a canister of photographic film . At least 12 missions were attempted, but at least 7 resulted in failure. The satellite was manufactured by Lockheed . Launches used Thor-Agena launch vehicles flying from Vandenberg Air Force Base , with
36-461: A spy satellite ) is an Earth observation satellite or communications satellite deployed for military or intelligence applications. The first generation type (i.e., Corona and Zenit ) took photographs, then ejected canisters of photographic film which would descend back down into Earth's atmosphere. Corona capsules were retrieved in mid-air as they floated down on parachutes . Later, spacecraft had digital imaging systems and downloaded
54-443: A Satellite Recovery Vehicle (SRV) before the satellite ceased operations. The satellite weighed 1,110 kg (2,450 lb). Recovery of the capsule was not attempted due to a system malfunction, and thus the scientific experiment data obtained were limited. Discoverer 20 decayed on 28 July 1962. Reconnaissance satellite A reconnaissance satellite or intelligence satellite (commonly, although unofficially, referred to as
72-452: Is a weekly magazine reporting on military and corporate affairs, edited by Peter Felstead. It is one of a number of military-related publications named after John F. T. Jane , an Englishman who first published Jane's All the World's Fighting Ships in 1898. It is a unit of Janes Information Services . The magazine is frequently cited in publications worldwide. Jane's Defence Weekly
90-578: The U-2 , and due to public concern about a technological gap between the West and the Soviet Union. It was expedited significantly after the shooting of a U-2 in 1960. Meanwhile, in the Soviet Union, a decree that authorized the development of sputnik apparently authorized a program for a satellite to be used for photo reconnaissance. This design evolved into Vostok, while another version became Zenit, which
108-525: The 1950s, a Soviet hoax had led to American fears of a bomber gap . In 1968, after gaining satellite photography, the United States' intelligence agencies were able to state with certainty that "No new ICBM complexes have been established in the USSR during the past year". President Lyndon B. Johnson told a gathering in 1967: I wouldn't want to be quoted on this ... We've spent $ 35 or $ 40 billion on
126-458: The Earth" in order "to determine the status of a potential enemy's war-making capability". During the mid-late 1950s, both the United States and the Soviet Union took interest into reconnaissance satellites. The United States began the CORONA project, which encompassed several series of launches starting in 1959 and ending in 72. This program was made a priority to photograph denied areas, replace
144-571: The KH-4B and KH-7 GAMBIT . Images from three of the successful missions returned the first images of Antarctica from space. Discoverer 20 (KH-5 9014A), was a USAF photographic reconnaissance satellite under the supervision of the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). Discoverer 20 was the first KH-5 ARGON satellite to be launched. The launch occurred at 20:24:00 GMT on 17 February 1961. A Thor DM-21 Agena-B launch vehicle
162-1079: The Union Address , President Jimmy Carter argued that all of humanity benefited from the presence of American spy satellites: ...photo-reconnaissance satellites, for example, are enormously important in stabilizing world affairs and thereby make a significant contribution to the security of all nations. Reconnaissance satellites have been used to enforce human rights, through the Satellite Sentinel Project , which monitors atrocities in Sudan and South Sudan . Additionally, companies such as GeoEye and DigitalGlobe have provided commercial satellite imagery in support of natural disaster response and humanitarian missions. Spy satellites are commonly seen in spy fiction and military fiction . Some works of fiction that focus specifically on spy satellites include: Jane%27s Defence Weekly Jane's Defence Weekly (abbreviated as JDW )
180-477: The case of KH-11 photographs which were sent to Jane's Defence Weekly in 1984, or US President Donald Trump tweeting a classified image of the aftermath of a failed test of Iran's Safir rocket in 2019. On 16 March 1955, the United States Air Force officially ordered the development of an advanced reconnaissance satellite to provide continuous surveillance of "preselected areas of
198-481: The images via encrypted radio links. In the United States, most information available about reconnaissance satellites is on programs that existed up to 1972, as this information has been declassified due to its age. Some information about programs before that time is still classified information , and a small amount of information is available on subsequent missions. A few up-to-date reconnaissance satellite images have been declassified on occasion, or leaked, as in
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#1732779534318216-526: The payload being integrated into the Agena . Different versions of the satellite varied in mass from 1,110 to 1,500 kg (2,450 to 3,310 lb). At least two missions deployed ELINT subsatellites. Ground resolution for the satellite was 140 m (460 ft), with a swath of 556 km (345 mi). The onboard camera had a focal length of 76 mm. The purpose of the system, which produced relatively low-resolution images compared to other spy satellites,
234-451: The space program. And if nothing else had come out of it except the knowledge that we gained from space photography, it would be worth ten times what the whole program has cost. Because tonight we know how many missiles the enemy has and, it turned out, our guesses were way off . We were doing things we didn't need to do. We were building things we didn't need to build. We were harboring fears we didn't need to harbor. During his 1980 State of
252-518: Was an unmanned reconnaissance satellite. Zenit was launched from 1961 to 1994, however the last flight in 1994 was as a test payload. Both the CORONA and Zenit satellites had to be recovered and used film, making them distinct from future reconnaissance satellites that could transmit photos without returning film to earth. There are several major types of reconnaissance satellite. Examples of reconnaissance satellite missions: On 28 August 2013, it
270-415: Was established in 1984 replacing the now-defunct Jane's Defence Review . The latter was started in 1978 and was published on a monthly basis. Award winning international journalist Clifford Beal is a former editor of the magazine. In 1984, only months after the magazine was established, Jane's Defence Weekly gained worldwide attention after printing several images from an American spy satellite of
288-503: Was thought that "a $ 1-billion high-powered spy satellite capable of snapping pictures detailed enough to distinguish the make and model of an automobile hundreds of miles below" was launched from California's Vandenberg Air Force Base using a Delta IV Heavy launcher, America's highest-payload space launch vehicle at the time. On 17 February 2014, a Russian Kosmos-1220 originally launched in 1980 and used for naval missile targeting until 1982, made an uncontrolled atmospheric entry . During
306-576: Was to provide imagery for cartography purposes. This was one of the tasks that had originally been planned for the SAMOS series of satellites equipped with the (quickly cancelled) E-4 cameras. Each satellite took photographs for less than a week before returning its film. The satellite was in use during the same period as the KH-2 to KH-4A CORONA and the KH-6 LANYARD satellites. Later satellites were
324-636: Was used, flying from LC 75-3-4 at the Vandenberg Air Force Base. It was assigned the Harvard designation 1961 Epsilon 1. Discoverer 20 was operated in an Earth orbit, with a perigee of 283 km (176 mi), an apogee of 770 km (480 mi), 80.91° of inclination, and a period of 95.81 minutes. The satellite was equipped with a camera with a focal length of 76 mm, which had a resolution of 140 m (460 ft). Images were recorded onto 127 mm film, and were to have been returned in
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