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KH-1 CORONA

System

Lockheed served as technical adviser and integrator of all CORONA equipment other than the Thor booster, developed the orbiting Agena upper stage, and integrated and led the test, launching and on-orbit control operations.

Agena, a space vehicle produced on an assembly line, was the heart of CORONA and other military and NASA satellite systems. < 12 > Mated to a rocket booster, Agena consisted of a three-axis gyro guidance and control system with correction inputs from horizon sensors that enabled precise cold-gas valve firings; an electrical system with six one-hour batteries; a telemetry, command and tracking system; a recovery system of a thermally protected reentry capsule with a retro-rocket, cold-gas spin-stabilized attitude control system, power supply, telemetry link and acquisition beacon, sequence timer and parachute; and a propulsion system utilizing a Bell rocket engine delivering 16,000 pounds thrust for orbit injection.

A vertical-looking, reciprocating, 70-degree panoramic Itek camera exposed the Eastman Kodak film by scanning at right angles to the line of flight. Integrated into the three-axis stabilized Agena, CORONA's first camera used a 24-inch focal-length, f/5.0 Tessar lens with image-motion compensation. Resolution in the early years was in the range of 35 to 40 feet. The imagery was by air catch following ejection in orbit by a sequence timer of the General Electric reentry capsule containing the film. Water recovery was used a backup.

By 1972, CORONA delivered resolutions of six to 10 feet, routinely, as camera payloads matured. Early capsules carried 10 to 16 pounds of film; toward the end of the program they carried 80 pounds (16,000 feet). In the 1970s, flights could remain on orbit for 19 days, provide accurate attitude, position, and mapping information, and return coverage of 8,400,000 nm2.

Agena became so successful that it was invoked in 1961 as a standard on other government programs. Last flown in 1987, Agena's world record 362 launches was achieved with an overall success rate exceeding 90 percent and a peak launch rate of 41 launches in one year.