Corona Program

The first operational American spy satellite program, 1960 to 1972

Overview

Corona launched its first successful recovery in August 1960, when an aircraft snatched a film capsule from the Discoverer 14 mission, opening the era of space reconnaissance. Successive satellites photographed the Soviet Union, China, and other denied areas, replacing risky U-2 overflights after the 1960 shootdown of Francis Gary Powers. Corona imagery let analysts count missiles and dispelled early fears of a bomber and missile gap. Declassified in 1995, its more than 860,000 photographs now serve historians and environmental researchers.