Mission type Optical reconnaissance Harvard designation 1962 Sigma 1 Bus RM-81 Agena Decay date 26 November 1963 | Operator US Air Force/NRO Launch date 15 May 1962 | |
Launch mass 1,150 kilograms (2,540 lb) People also search for FTV-1132, Discoverer 37, ANNA 1B | ||
FTV-1126, also known as Corona 9034A, was an American area survey optical reconnaissance satellite launched in 1962. It was a KH-5 Argon satellite, based on an Agena-B. It was also unofficially known as Discoverer 41, a continuation of the designation sequence used for previous US reconnaissance satellites, which had officially been discontinued after Discoverer 38. It was the first KH-5 satellite to complete its mission successfully.
The launch of FTV-1126 occurred at 19:36 UTC on 15 May 1962. A Thor DM-21 Agena-B rocket was used, flying from Launch Complex 75-3-5 at the Vandenberg Air Force Base. Upon successfully reaching orbit, it was assigned the Harvard designation 1962 Sigma 1.
FTV-1126 was operated in a low Earth orbit, with a perigee of 284 kilometres (176 mi), an apogee of 632 kilometres (393 mi), 82.3 degrees of inclination, and a period of 93.75 minutes. The satellite had a mass of 1,150 kilograms (2,540 lb), and was equipped with a frame camera with a focal length of 76 millimetres (3.0 in), which had a maximum resolution of 140 metres (460 ft). Images were recorded onto 127-millimeter (5.0 in) film, and returned in a Satellite Recovery Vehicle, before the satellite ceased operations. The Satellite Recovery Vehicle used by FTV-1126 was 582. Once its images had been returned, the inactive FTV-1126 decayed from orbit on 26 November 1963.