KH-7

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An enlargement of a photograph of the U.S. Capitol taken by KH-7 mission 4025 on February 19, 1966.
An enlargement of a photograph of the U.S. Capitol taken by KH-7 mission 4025 on February 19, 1966.

Codenamed Gambit, the KH-7 was a reconnaissance satellite used by the United States from July 1963 to June 1967. Like the older CORONA system, it acquired imagery intelligence by taking photographs and returning the undeveloped film to earth. It is also known as Air Force Program 206. Though most of the imagery from the KH-7 satellites was declassified in 2002, details of the satellite program (and the satellite's construction) are still classified information. The initial resolution of the satellite was 1.2 meters (4 feet), but improved to 0.6m (2 feet) by 1966. Each satellite weighed about 2000 kg, and returned a single film bucket per mission. The first nine KH-7 satellites were launched from Point Arguello; the remainder were launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base. KH-7 satellites flew 38 missions, numbered 4001-4038, of which 34 returned film, and of these, 30 returned usable imagery. [1] The KH-7 was manufactured by Lockheed.

A high-resolution instrument, the KH-7 took detailed pictures of "hot spots" and most of its photographs are of Chinese and Soviet nuclear and missile installations, with smaller amounts of coverage of cities and harbors.[2] Most of the imagery from this camera, amounting to 19,000 images, was declassified in 2002 as a result of Executive order 12951[3], the same order which declassified CORONA, and copies of the films were transferred to the U.S. Geological Survey's Earth Resources Observation Systems office. Approximately 100 frames covering the state of Israel remain classified.[4]

The later KH-8 also used the Gambit codename.

[edit] List of launches

Name Mission No. Launch Date Alt. Name NSSDC ID No. Launch Vehicle Apogee (km) Perigee (km) Inclination (deg)
KH7-1 4001 1963-07-12 OPS-1467 1963-028A Atlas Agena D 164 164 95.4
KH7-2 4002 1963-09-06 OPS-1947 1963-036A Atlas Agena D 168 263 94.4
KH7-3 4003 1963-10-25 OPS-2196 1963-041A Atlas Agena D 144 332 99.1
KH7-4 4004 1963-12-18 OPS-2372 1963-051A Atlas Agena D 122 266 97.9
KH7-5 4005 1964-02-25 OPS-2423 1964-009A Atlas Agena D 173 190 95.7
KH7-6 4006 1964-03-11 OPS-3435 1964-012A Atlas Agena D 163 203 95.8
KH7-7 4007 1964-04-23 OPS-3743 1964-020A Atlas Agena D 150 366 103.6
KH7-8 4008 1964-05-19 OPS-3592 1964-024A Atlas Agena D 141 380 101.1
KH7-9 4009 1964-07-06 OPS-3684 1964-036A Atlas Agena D 121 346 92.9
KH7-10 4010 1964-08-14 OPS-3802 1964-045A SLV-3 Agena D 149 307 95.5
KH7-11 4011 1964-09-23 OPS-4262 1964-058A SLV-3 Agena D 145 303 92.9
KH7-12 4012 1964-10-08 OPS-4036 1964-F11 SLV-3 Agena D --- --- ---
KH7-13 4013 1964-10-23 OPS-4384 1964-068A Atlas Agena D 139 271 88.6
KH7-14 4014 1964-12-04 OPS-4439 1964-079A SLV-3 Agena D 158 357 97
KH7-15 4015 1965-01-23 OPS-4703 1965-005A SLV-3 Agena D 146 291 102.5
KH7-16 4016 1965-03-12 OPS-4920 1965-019A SLV-3 Agena D 93 155
KH7-17 4017 1965-04-28 OPS-4983 1965-031A SLV-3 Agena D 180 259 95.7
KH7-18 4018 1965-05-27 OPS-5236 1965-041A SLV-3 Agena D 149 267 95.8
KH7-19 4019 1965-06-25 OPS-5501 1965-050B SLV-3 Agena D 151 283 107.6
KH7-20 4020 1965-07-12 OPS-5810 1965-F07 SLV-3 Agena D --- --- ---
KH7-21 4021 1965-08-03 OPS-5698 1965-062A SLV-3 Agena D 149 307 107.5
KH7-22 4022 1965-09-30 OPS-7208 1965-076A SLV-3 Agena D 98 164 95.6
KH7-23 4023 1965-11-08 OPS-6232 1965-090B SLV-3 Agena D 145 277 93.9
KH7-24 4024 1966-01-19 OPS-7253 1966-002A SLV-3 Agena D 150 269 93.9
KH7-25 4025 1966-02-15 OPS-1184 1966-012A SLV-3 Agena D 148 293 96.5
KH7-26 4026 1966-03-18 OPS-0879 1966-022A SLV-3 Agena D 162 208 101
KH7-27 4027 1966-04-19 OPS-0910 1966-032A SLV-3 Agena D 139 312 116.9
KH7-28 4028 1966-05-14 OPS-1950 1966-039A SLV-3 Agena D 133 358 10.5
KH7-29 4029 1966-06-03 OPS-1577 1966-048A SLV-3 Agena D 143 288 86.9
KH7-30 4030 1966-07-12 OPS-1850 1966-062A SLV-3 Agena D 137 236 95.5
KH7-31 4031 1966-08-16 OPS-1832 1966-074A SLV-3 Agena D 146 358 93.3
KH7-32 4032 1966-09-16 OPS-1686 1966-083A SLV-3 Agena D 148 333 93.9
KH7-33 4033 1966-10-12 OPS-2055 1966-090A SLV-3 Agena D 155 287 91
KH7-34 4034 1966-11-02 OPS-2070 1966-098A SLV-3 Agena D 159 305 91
KH7-35 4035 1966-12-05 OPS-1890 1966-109A SLV-3 Agena D 137 388 104.6
KH7-36 4036 1967-02-02 OPS-4399 1967-007A SLV-3 Agena D 136 357 102.4
KH7-37 4037 1967-05-22 OPS-4321 1967-050A SLV-3 Agena D 135 293 91.5
KH7-38 4038 1967-06-04 OPS-4360 1967-055A SLV-3 Agena D 149 456 104.8

(NSSDC ID Numbers: See COSPAR)

[edit] References

  1. ^ NRO review and redaction guide (2006 ed.). National Reconnaissance Office.
  2. ^ NARA ARC database description of "Keyhole-7 (KH-7) Satellite Imagery, 07/01/1963 - 06/30/1967", accession number NN3-263-02-011
  3. ^ National Archives Releases Recently Declassified Satellite Imagery. National Archives and Records Administration press release (2002-10-09).
  4. ^ Historical imagery declassification. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.

[edit] Other U.S. imaging spy satellites

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