Space Launch Now - Thor Agena A

Thor Agena A

In-active

McDonnell Douglas (MDC)

Jan. 21, 1959

Description

Thor-Agena was a series of orbital launch vehicles. The rockets used Thor first stages and Agena second stages. They are thus cousins of the more-famous Thor-Deltas, which founded the Delta rocket family.

Specifications

Stages
2
Length
28.0 m
Diameter
2.44 m
Fairing Diameter
2.44 m
Launch Mass
53.0 T
Thrust
667.0 kN

Family

Name
Thor Agena A
Family
―
Variant
Agena A
Alias
―
Full Name
Thor Agena A

Payload Capacity

Launch Cost
$10700000
Low Earth Orbit
250.0 kg
Geostationary Transfer Orbit
―
Direct Geostationary
―
Sun-Synchronous Capacity
―

McDonnell Douglas

Commercial

None

MDC

None

Previous Flights

flew on 15 previous launch(es).

Thor Agena A | Discoverer 15

McDonnell Douglas | United States of America
Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
Sept. 13, 1960, 10:13 p.m.

Status: Launch Successful

Mission:

Discoverer 15 was an American optical reconnaissance satellite. The orbital mission was successful but when the capsule was returned it failed to be captured and sank into the ocean.

Low Earth Orbit

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Thor Agena A | Discoverer 14

McDonnell Douglas | United States of America
Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
Aug. 18, 1960, 7:57 p.m.

Status: Launch Successful

Mission:

Discoverer 14 was an American optical reconnaissance satellite. It was the first fully successful flight of the Discoverer series which returned film. The capsule was recovered mid air by an aircraft

Low Earth Orbit

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Thor Agena A | Discoverer 13

McDonnell Douglas | United States of America
Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
Aug. 10, 1960, 8:37 p.m.

Status: Launch Successful

Mission:

Discoverer 13 was an American optical reconnaissance satellite. The lastof five test flights of the Corona KH-1 spy satellite series. It was the first fully successfuly flight of the Discoverer series. It successfuly jetissoned its payload which was recovered in the Ocean by the Navy.

Low Earth Orbit

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Thor Agena A | Discoverer 12

McDonnell Douglas | United States of America
Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
June 29, 1960, 10 p.m.

Status: Launch Failure

Mission:

Discoverer 12 was an American optical reconnaissance satellite. The fourth of five test flights of the Corona KH-1 spy satellite series. It was lost when the second stage failed during launch.

Low Earth Orbit

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Thor Agena A | Discoverer 11

McDonnell Douglas | United States of America
Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
April 15, 1960, 8:30 p.m.

Status: Launch Successful

Mission:

Discoverer 11 was an American optical reconnaissance satellite. The eighth of ten operational flights of the Corona KH-1 spy satellite series, it successfully employed the first space-worthy camera film; however, Discoverer's film return capsule was lost during reentry on 16 Apr when the satellite's spin motors exploded.

Low Earth Orbit

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Thor Agena A | Discoverer 10

McDonnell Douglas | United States of America
Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
Feb. 19, 1960, 8:15 p.m.

Status: Launch Failure

Mission:

Discoverer 10 was an American optical reconnaissance satellite, the seventh of ten operational flights of the Corona KH-1 spy satellite series.

Low Earth Orbit

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Thor Agena A | Discoverer 9

McDonnell Douglas | United States of America
Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
Feb. 4, 1960, 6:51 p.m.

Status: Launch Failure

Mission:

Discoverer 9 was an American optical reconnaissance satellite, the sixth of ten operational flights of the Corona KH-1 spy satellite series, and the first of them to be equipped with a new, vacuum-proof, polyester-based film. The satellite was not successfully orbited.

Low Earth Orbit

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Thor Agena A | Discoverer 8

McDonnell Douglas | United States of America
Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
Nov. 20, 1959, 7:25 p.m.

Status: Launch Successful

Mission:

The KH-1 (Keyhole-1) was the first attempt in the Corona-program to build an optical reconnaissance satellite. These satellites were all launched under the name Discoverer.

Low Earth Orbit

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Thor Agena A | Discoverer 7

McDonnell Douglas | United States of America
Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
Nov. 7, 1959, 8:28 p.m.

Status: Launch Successful

Mission:

The KH-1 (Keyhole-1) was the first attempt in the Corona-program to build an optical reconnaissance satellite. These satellites were all launched under the name Discoverer.

Low Earth Orbit

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Thor Agena A | Discoverer 6

McDonnell Douglas | United States of America
Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
Aug. 19, 1959, 7:24 p.m.

Status: Launch Successful

Mission:

Discoverer 6 was the sixth in a series of reconnaissance satellites, however, it failed to return its capsule when the retrorocket failed to deorbit the capsule.

Polar Orbit

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Thor Agena A | Discoverer 5

McDonnell Douglas | United States of America
Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
Aug. 13, 1959, 7 p.m.

Status: Launch Successful

Mission:

Discoverer 5 was the fifth in a series of reconnaissance satellites, however, it failed to return its capsule when it was accidentally sent into a higher orbit.

Polar Orbit

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Thor Agena A | Discoverer 4

McDonnell Douglas | United States of America
Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
June 25, 1959, 10:47 p.m.

Status: Launch Failure

Mission:

Discoverer 4 was the fourth in a series of reconnaissance satellites, however, it failed to reach orbit when the Agena engine underperformed and failed to place the capsule into orbit.

Polar Orbit

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Thor Agena A | Discoverer 3

McDonnell Douglas | United States of America
Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
June 3, 1959, 8:09 p.m.

Status: Launch Failure

Mission:

The Discoverer 3 reconnaissance satellite failed to reach orbit due to a failure of the Agena A upper stage.

Polar Orbit

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Thor Agena A | Discoverer 2

McDonnell Douglas | United States of America
Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
April 13, 1959, 9:18 p.m.

Status: Launch Successful

Mission:

Discoverer II successfully reached orbit and took photos of Earth. However, when the capsule with the data was ejected in order to re-enter the atmosphere there was a timer malfunction meaning it seperated too early and landed over the North Pole rather than the intended target of Hawaii. The capsule was never recovered.

Polar Orbit

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Thor Agena A | Discoverer 1

McDonnell Douglas | United States of America
Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
Feb. 28, 1959, 9:49 p.m.

Status: Launch Failure

Mission:

Discoverer I was the first of a series of satellites part of the CORONA reconnaissance program. This satellite didn't take a camera or film system as it was intended as a test. There were issues communicating with the satellite during flight with only intermittent signals being read.

Polar Orbit

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