Thor-Agena was a series of orbital

launch vehicle A launch vehicle or carrier rocket is a rocket designed to carry a payload ( spacecraft or satellites) from the Earth's surface to outer space. Most launch vehicles operate from a launch pads, supported by a launch control center and sys ...

s. The

s used the

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-built

Thor Thor (; from non, Þórr ) is a prominent god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred groves and trees, strength, the protection of humankind, hallowing, ...

first stage and the Lockheed-built Agena second stages. They are thus cousins of the more-famous Thor-Deltas, which founded the Delta rocket family. The first attempted launch of a Thor-Agena was in January 1959. The first successful launch was on 28 February 1959, launching '' Discoverer 1''. It was the first two-stage launch vehicle to place a satellite into orbit.

Missions

Among other uses, the clandestine CORONA program used Thor-Agena from June 1959 until January 1968 to launch

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military

reconnaissance satellite A reconnaissance satellite or intelligence satellite (commonly, although unofficially, referred to as a spy satellite) is an Earth observation satellite or communications satellite deployed for military or intelligence applications. Th ...

s operated by the

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

(CIA). During this program, Thor-Agena launch vehicles were used in 145 launch attempts, now known to have been part of satellite surveillance programs. Also, '' Alouette 1,''

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

's first satellite, was launched on a Thor-Agena B.

1963 Mystery Cloud

On 28 February 1963, a Thor-Agena launch vehicle carrying a spy satellite into orbit was launched from

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. The launch vehicle went off course and mission control detonated the launch vehicle at an altitude of before it could reach orbit. The launch vehicle detonation produced a large circular cloud that appeared over the southwestern United States. Due to its mysterious nature, appearing at a very high altitude and being visible for hundreds of miles, the cloud attracted widespread attention and was published by the news media. The cloud was featured on the cover of ''Science Magazine'' in April 1963, ''Weatherwise'' Magazine in May 1963, and had a full page image published in the May issue of ''Life Magazine''. Prof. James MacDonald at the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first ...

Institute for Atmospheric Physics investigated the phenomena and linked the it to the Thor launch vehicle launch after contacting military personnel at Vandenberg Air Force Base. When the launch records were later declassified, the United States Air Force released a memo explaining that the cloud was the result of a military operation.

Versions

Thor-Agena A: * 16 launches between 21 January 1959 and 13 September 1960 * The Discoverer 14 satellite used in the CORONA spy satellite program was launched by a Thor-Agena A. On 19 August 1960, usable photographic film from the satellite was recovered by a

Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar The Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar (Navy and Marine Corps designation R4Q) was an American military transport aircraft developed from the World War II-era Fairchild C-82 Packet, designed to carry cargo, personnel, litter patients, and mechan ...

recovery aircraft. This was the first successful recovery of film from an orbiting satellite and the first mid-air recovery of an object returning from

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's sur ...

orbit. Thor-Agena B: * 44 launches between 26 October 1960 and 15 May 1966 * Includes a variant with Solid Rocket Boosters * First successful launch: 12 November 1960 with ''Discoverer 17'' * Last launch: 15 May 1966 with ''Nimbus 2'' Thor-Agena D: * 83 launches between 28 June 1962 and 17 January 1968 * Includes a variant with Solid Rocket Boosters * First launch: 28 June 1962 with ''KH-4 19'' * Last launch: 17 January 1968 with ''Multigroup 3 and Setter 1B-2''

References

{{Thor and Delta rockets 1959 in spaceflight 1962 in spaceflight 1963 in spaceflight Thor (rocket family) Military space program of the United States