KH-5 Argon
Series of reconnaissance satellites produced by the United States
title: "KH-5 Argon" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["surveillance", "reconnaissance-satellites-of-the-united-states", "military-equipment-introduced-in-the-1960s", "national-reconnaissance-office"] description: "Series of reconnaissance satellites produced by the United States" topic_path: "geography/united-states" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KH-5_Argon" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Series of reconnaissance satellites produced by the United States ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox Spacecraft class"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| country | United States |
| operator | NRO |
| manufacturer | Lockheed Corporation |
| applications | Reconnaissance |
| Geodetic mapping | |
| orbits | LEO |
| bus | RM-81 Agena |
| derivedfrom | CORONA |
| status | Retired |
| launched | 12 |
| retired | 5 |
| failed | 4 |
| lost | 3 |
| mass | 1274 kg |
| equipment | Optical cameras |
| 556 x 556 km coverage | |
| 140 m resolution | |
| :: |
| country = United States | operator = NRO | manufacturer = Lockheed Corporation | applications = Reconnaissance Geodetic mapping | orbits = LEO | bus = RM-81 Agena | derivedfrom = CORONA | status = Retired | launched = 12 | retired = 5 | failed = 4 | lost = 3 | mass = 1274 kg | equipment = Optical cameras 556 x 556 km coverage 140 m resolution
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5a/KH-5_ARGON_(Agena-B).jpg" caption="A KH 5 ARGON (with Agena-B service module) main features."] ::
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1f/KH-5_ARGON_(Agena-D).jpg" caption="A KH 5 ARGON (with Agena-D service module) main features."] ::
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 the payload being integrated into the Agena.
Payload
Different versions of the satellite varied in mass from 1110 to. At least two missions deployed ELINT subsatellites. Ground resolution for the satellite was 140 m, with a swath of 556 km. 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, 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 the KH-4B and KH-7 GAMBIT. Images from three of the successful missions returned the first images of Antarctica from space.{{cite report|url= https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19990009049_1998434834.pdf|title=Declassified Intelligence Satellite Photography (DISP) Coverage of Antarctica|first1=Robert|last1=Bindschadler|first2=Wendy |last2=Seider|work=NASA/TM-1998-206879|date=1998-11-01|publisher=NASA|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100514231511/https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19990009049_1998434834.pdf |archive-date=2010-05-14|url-status=dead|access-date=2021-09-26}}
Satellites
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 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, an apogee of 770 km, 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. Images were recorded onto 127 mm film, and were to have been returned in a Satellite Recovery Vehicle (SRV) before the satellite ceased operations. The satellite weighed 1110 kg. 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.
Launches
::data[format=table]
| Name | Launch Date | NSSDC ID | Alt Name | Alt Name | Mass (kg) | Decay Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KH-5 9014A | 1961-02-17 | 1961-005A | Discoverer 20 | 1961 Epsilon 1 | 1110 | 1962-07-28 | |
| KH-5 9016A | 1961-04-08 | 1961-011A | Discoverer 23 | 1961 Lambda 1 | 1150 | 1962-04-16 | |
| **KH-5 9018A ** | 1961-06-08 | DISC24 | Discoverer 24 | 1961-F05 | 1150 | --- | |
| KH-5 9020A | 1961-07-21 | DISC27 | Discoverer 27 | 1961-F07 | 1150 | --- | |
| KH-5 9034A | 1962-05-15 | 1962-018A | FTV 1126 | ||||
| KH-5 9042A | 1962-09-01 | 1962-044A | FTV 1132 | ||||
| KH-5 9046A | 1962-10-09 | 1962-053A | FTV 1134 | ||||
| KH-5 9055A | 1963-04-26 | 1963-004X | OPS 1008 | ||||
| KH-5 9058A | 1963-08-29 | 1963-035A | OPS 1561 | ||||
| KH-5 9059A | 1963-10-29 | 1963-042A | OPS 2437 | ||||
| KH-5 9065A | 1964-06-13 | 1964-030A | OPS 3236 | ||||
| KH-5 9066A | 1964-08-21 | 1964-048A | OPS 2739 | ||||
| :: |
References
- Mark Wade (August 9, 2003) KH-5 Encyclopedia Astronautica
- KH-5 ARGON GlobalSecurity.org
References
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::