* Vandenberg Air Force Base
June 3 1959
Agena guidance failure. Vehicle fell into the Pacific Ocean.
The CORONA satellites were used for photographic surveillance of the Soviet Union (USSR), China, and other areas beginning in June 1959 and ending in May 1972. Discoverer 1 was the first of a series of 38 Discoverer satellites [1959-1962] which were part of the CORONA reconnaissance satellite program. It was launched on a Thor-Agena A rocket on 28 February 1959 from Vandenberg Air Force Base. It was a prototype of the KH-1 satellite, but did not contain either a camera or a film capsule. It was the first satellite launched toward the South Pole in an attempt to achieved a polar orbit, but was unsuccessful.
December 12, 1961
Best mission to date. Launch carried OSCAR 1 to orbit.
The final Discoverer satellite, Discoverer 37, launched 13 January 1962, was the last CORONA mission to bear the Discoverer name. Subsequent CORONA missions were simply classified as "Department of Defense satellite launches."
[original in SCIF archives]
Vandenberg Air Force Base
Established in 1941, Vandenberg Air Force Base is located in Santa Barbara County. It is a space launch base, launching spacecraft from the Western Range, and also performs missile testing. The United States Space Force's Space Launch Delta 30 serves as the host delta for the base. In addition to its military space launch mission, Vandenberg Space Force Base also performs space launches for civil and commercial space entities, such as NASA and SpaceX.
The base contains 99,604 acres of land, operates approximately 16 launch facilities and complexes, and maintains the second largest airfield runway in the Department of Defense, which is 15,000 feet long.
October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the first man-made satellite, shocking the American public and beginning the Space Age.
On November 12, 1960 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, an Agena-B rocket was launched carrying Discoverer 17 (also known as Corona 9012), an optical reconnaissance satellite. On board Discoverer were a secret panoramic camera, a biological research payload (the satellite's official purpose), and perhaps 28 pieces of mail similar. This was, as USAF Chief of Staff White writes, "the first time that letters have been sent by a satellite ... in the tradition of airmen who less than thirty years ago pioneered in the first use of airmail." After "travelling ... at speeds greater than 18,000 miles per hour," the photographic film and the mail were returned to Earth in a Satellite Recovery Vehicle that separated off from Discoverer. The SRV, descending by parachute, was captured over the mid-Pacific by the grappling hooks of the USAF plane Pelican 2. These first pieces of orbital mail were delivered only to the elite of the political, defense, and aviation worlds. A piece traced at auction was sent to the first NASA Administrator. [A second piece sold at Bonhams for $37,500 in 2012.]
DISCOVERER SATELLITE LAUNCH HISTORY Scroll down for launch dates.
SATELLITE AND MISSILE LAUNCH COVERS postmarked Lompoc, CA Vandenberg AFB in SCIF Archives:
1961
- December 12, 1961 Discoverer 36
1962
- February 27, 1962 Discoverer 38 [last named Discoverer; first KH-4 series]
1967
- January 31, 1967 ATCOS 1 OV-3-5
- July 28, 1967 OCO IV
1968
- October 3, 1968 ESRO-1
1969
- January 29, 1969 United States Canadian ISIS — A Research Orbiter.
- April 14, 1969 Nimbus III
1970
- February 3, 1970 SERT 11 Thor Agena-12
- April 8, 1970 Nimbus
- July 22, 1970 Mideast: Recon Satellite launched by THOR-AGENA D
- August 27, 1970 U.S. Navy Navigation Satellite Launched by a Scout Rocket
- September 26, 1970 BOMARC Target [Boeing Michigan Aeronautical Research Center]
- November 18, 1970 Secret Satellite Launch Thor-Agena Booster
- December 11, 1970 NOAA—1 Launched by Deltar
- December 11, 1970 NOAA Tiros Operational Satellite (ITOS-A)
1971
- January 21, 1971 Samos 81
- March 3, 1971 2nd Chinese Satellite
- March 20, 1971 USAF Advanced Communications Satellite launched by Titan 3b
- March 24, 1971 USAF Thor-Agena Booster Secret Satellite toward Polar Orbit
- March 31, 1971 U.S. Canadian Space Launch Circular Polar Orbiting Satellite
- March 31, 1971 Minuteman Instant ICBM 16th SAC Minuteman II M Booster
- April 5, 1971 Advanced Ballistic Re-Entry System (ABRESI Testing) Atlas F Booster
- April 9, 1971 US Air Force Minuteman Instant ICBM Minuteman -3 Re-entry Testing
- April 14, 1971 BOMARC Target Salvo Launch
- April 22, 1971 USAF Titan 3 B Booster Secret Satellite toward Polar Orbit
- April 23, 1971 7th Minuteman SAC Minuteman -3 Super ICBM Launch
- April 26, 1971 The 88th SAC Minuteman B
- May 18, 1971 SAC Minuteman II F Booster S-Band Telemetry
- May 21, 1971 Minuteman Instant ICBM SAC Minuteman II F Booster Re-entry Testing
1973
- January 22, 1973 Explorer 51
1975
- January 9, 1975 Titan II
- January 19, 1975 Minuteman Instant ICBM
- January 22, 1975 Landsat II ERTS-B Satellite Launch
- January 22, 1973 Explorer 51
- January 29, 1975 SAC Minuteman
- February 5, 1975 Minuteman III Instant ICBM
- March 6, 1975 Minuteman Instant ICBM
- March 9, 1975 Satellite lifted into orbit by the Titan III
- March 9, 1975 AFSATCOM launched by Titan 3b
- March 20, 1975 BOMARC Target
- April 9, 1975 GEOS-C Satellite Launch Thor-Delta Booster
- April 10, 1975 BOMARC Target
- April 12, 1975 Destroyed In Flight. Satellite toward Polar Orbit by the Atlas.
- April 18, 1975 Satellite Launch toward Polar Orbit by the Titan
- April 18, 1975 SAMOS 102 launched by Titan 3b
- May 6, 1975 Minuteman III Instant ICBM
- May 9, 1975 Minuteman I Instant ICBM
- May 16, 1975 Minuteman III Successful Rocket Test by the US Air Force
- May 22, 1975 BOMARC Target Missile destroyed by Air to Air or Ground to Air Missiles
- May 23, 1975 Minuteman Instant ICBM
- May 23, 1975 Thor Booster Satellite Launch toward Polar Orbit
- May 23, 1975 ESAF DOD Defense Meteorological Satellite launched by the Thor-Burner 2
- June 1, 1975 Minuteman Instant ICBM
- June 6, 1975 Big Bird-10 (Samos 103) Ricon Military Satellite launched by Titan 3D
- June 11, 1975 SAC Minuteman-3 ICBM
- June 12, 1975 Nimbus F Meteorological Research Satellite Thor-Delta Booster
- June 20, 1975 SAC Minuteman-3 ICBM
- July 1, 1975 Minuteman Instant ICBM
- July 17, 1975 Apollo-Soyuz Docking. Pt. Arguello Tracking Station. (Mariner-10 stamp)
- July 17, 1975 Apollo-Soyuz Docking. Pt. Arguello Tracking Station. (Retarded children stamp)
- July 23, 1975 BOMARC Target
- July 24, 1975 Apollo-Soyuz Recovery. Pt. Arguello Tracking Station.
- July 26, 1975 Minuteman-3 Instant ICBM
- August 7, 1975 SAC USAF Titan II Super ICBM
- August 7, 1975 ESA Nasa COS-B Thor Booster
- August 14, 1975 SAC Minuteman-3 Instant ICBM
- August 22, 1975 Minuteman Instant ICBM
- August 29, 1975 Missile Launch SAC Minuteman 3 Instant ICBM
- September 5, 1975 Missile Launch Minuteman
- September 10, 1975 Minuteman I Instant ICBM
- September 16, 1975 Minuteman 2 Instant ICBM
- September 23, 1975 Instant ICBM Minuteman US Air Force
- September 30, 1975 Minuteman Instant ICBM
- October 6, 1975 AE-D toward Polar Orbit NASA
- October 9, 1975 Satellite in earth orbit
- October 9, 1975 Samos 104 launched by Titan 3B
- October 11, 1975 Navy Navigational Satellite Scout Booster Western Test Range
- October 11, 1975 WTR Tip-II Second Transit Improvement Satellite
- November 13, 1975 SAC Minuteman
- November 14, 1975 Minuteman Instant ICBM
- December 4, 1975 Satellite lifted into orbit Titan III Booster
- December 4, 1975 Big Bird II launched by Titan 3D
- December 4, 1975 USAF Titan II ICBM
- December 5, 1975 Dad-Scout Booster Satellite Launch Destroyed In Flight
- December 4, 1975 Dual Air Density Project Dad launch by Scout
- December 11, 1975 UTE-Tomahawk Experimental Space Probe
- December 16, 1975 Pacific Missile Range BOMARC Target Missile destroyed by Air to Air or Ground to Air Missiles
- December 17, 1975 SAC Minuteman Instant ICBM
