KH-6 Lanyard
Codenamed Lanyard, the KH-6 was a shortlived series of reconnaissance satellites produced by the United States from March to July 1963. The project was quickly put together to get imagery of a site near Tallinn suspected of having ICBMs. The satellite carried an "E-5" camera developed for the Samos program, which had been cancelled. The camera had a focal length of 1.67 meters (66 inches) and could discern objects on the ground 1.8 m (6 ft) in size. The ground swath of the camera was 14 km by 74 km (9 mi by 46 mi). The satellite weighed 1500 kg, and had a single re-entry vehicle in which exposed film was returned to earth. The KH-6 was manufactured by Lockheed and launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base on Thor-Agena rockets.
Three launch attempts were made. One attempt failed and another did not use any film.
Corona and KH-5 (Argon) satellites were both in use during the period that the KH-6 was operational. It was followed by the KH-7 (Gambit).
Launches
- KH-6 8001 launch failed 1963-03-18 1963-F03
- KH-6 8002 launched 1963-05-18 1963-016A
- KH-6 8003 launched 1963-07-31 1963-032A
References
- Mark Wade (August 9, 2003). KH-6. Encyclopedia Astronautica. Accessed April 23, 2004.
- KH-6 Lanyard. GlobalSecurity.org.