Mission type Optical reconnaissance Mission duration Failed to orbit Rocket Thor DM-21 Agena-B 300 Bus RM-81 Agena | Operator US Air Force/NRO Spacecraft type KH-2 Corona' Launch date 30 March 1961 Manufacturer Lockheed Corporation | |
Launch mass 1,150 kilograms (2,540 lb) Similar LOFTI‑1, Transit 3B, Discoverer 18 | ||
Discoverer 22, also known as Corona 9015, was an American optical reconnaissance satellite which was lost in a launch failure in 1961. It was a KH-2 Corona' satellite, based on an Agena-B.
The launch of Discoverer 22 occurred at 20:34:43 UTC on 30 March 1961. A Thor DM-21 Agena-B rocket was used, flying from launch pad 75-3-4 at the Vandenberg Air Force Base. Due to a malfunction of the rocket's second stage, it failed to achieve orbit.
Discoverer 22 was to have operated in a low Earth orbit. It had a mass of 1,150 kilograms (2,540 lb), and was equipped with a panoramic camera with a focal length of 61 centimetres (24 in), which had a maximum resolution of 7.6 metres (25 ft). Images were to have been recorded onto 70-millimeter (2.8 in) film, and returned in a Satellite Recovery Vehicle. The Satellite Recovery Vehicle carried aboard Discoverer 22 was SRV-509.