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astronautix.com KH-4A
Class: Surveillance. Type: Military. Nation: USA. Agency: U.S. Air Force. Manufacturer: Lockheed.

Early US reconnaisance satellite. Carried two 'J-1' panoramic cameras, with a focal length of 61 cm, and a ground resolution of 2.7 m. Ground swath was 19.7 km x 267 km. Also carried a 1.5 inch index camera, with a focal length of 38 mm, a ground resolution of 162 m, and frame coverage of 308 km x 308 km.

Specification

Total Mass: 2,000 kg.

KH-4A Chronology

25 August 1963 KH-4A 1001 Launch Site: Vandenberg . Launch Vehicle: TA Thor Agena D. Mass: 1,500 kg. Perigee: 161 km. Apogee: 320 km. Inclination: 75.0 deg.

KH-4A. First mission of KH-4A. Some film was fogged. Two buckets but 1001-2 was never recovered.

23 September 1963 KH-4A 1002 Launch Site: Vandenberg . Launch Vehicle: TA Thor Agena D. Mass: 1,500 kg. Perigee: 162 km. Apogee: 442 km. Inclination: 74.8 deg.

KH-4A. Severe light leaks, 1002-2 never recovered, indefinite postponement of KH-4A series.

15 February 1964 KH-4A 1004 Launch Site: Vandenberg . Launch Vehicle: TA Thor Agena D. Mass: 1,590 kg. Perigee: 172 km. Apogee: 429 km. Inclination: 74.9 deg.

KH-4A. Main cameras operated satisfactorily. Minor degradations due to static and light leaks.

24 March 1964 SRV 631 Launch Site: Vandenberg . Launch Vehicle: TA Thor Agena D. FAILURE: Failure.
27 April 1964 KH-4A 1005 Launch Site: Vandenberg . Launch Vehicle: TA Thor Agena D. Mass: 1,500 kg. Perigee: 175 km. Apogee: 445 km. Inclination: 79.9 deg.

KH-4A. Mission failed. Recovery vehicle impacted in Venezuela.

04 June 1964 KH-4A 1006 Launch Site: Vandenberg . Launch Vehicle: TA Thor Agena D. Mass: 1,500 kg. Perigee: 149 km. Apogee: 429 km. Inclination: 80.0 deg.

KH-4A. Highest quality imagery attained to date from the KH-4 system.

19 June 1964 KH-4A 1007 Launch Site: Vandenberg . Launch Vehicle: TA Thor Agena D. Mass: 1,500 kg. Perigee: 180 km. Apogee: 451 km. Inclination: 85.0 deg.

KH-4A. Out-of-focus area on some film.

10 July 1964 KH-4A 1008 Launch Site: Vandenberg . Launch Vehicle: TA Thor Agena D. Mass: 1,500 kg. Perigee: 173 km. Apogee: 346 km. Inclination: 84.9 deg.

KH-4A. Cameras operated satisfactorily, some light leaks.

05 August 1964 KH-4A 1009 Launch Site: Vandenberg . Launch Vehicle: TA Thor Agena D. Mass: 1,540 kg. Perigee: 182 km. Apogee: 436 km. Inclination: 80.0 deg.

KH-4A. Cameras operated successfully.

14 September 1964 KH-4A 1010 Launch Site: Vandenberg . Launch Vehicle: TA Thor Agena D. Mass: 1,330 kg. Perigee: 174 km. Apogee: 455 km. Inclination: 84.9 deg.

KH-4A. Small out of focus areas on both cameras at random times throughout the mission.

05 October 1964 KH-4A 1011 Launch Site: Vandenberg . Launch Vehicle: TA Thor Agena D. Mass: 1,500 kg. Perigee: 182 km. Apogee: 440 km. Inclination: 80.0 deg.

KH-4A. Primary mode of recovery failed on second portion of the mission (1011-2). Small out of focus areas present at random on both cameras.

17 October 1964 KH-4A 1012 Launch Site: Vandenberg . Launch Vehicle: TA Thor Agena D. Mass: 1,500 kg. Perigee: 189 km. Apogee: 416 km. Inclination: 75.0 deg.

KH-4A. Vehicle attitude became erratic on the second portion of the mission necessitating an early recovery.

02 November 1964 KH-4A 1013 Launch Site: Vandenberg . Launch Vehicle: TA Thor Agena D. Mass: 1,500 kg. Perigee: 181 km. Apogee: 210 km. Inclination: 51.2 deg.

KH-4A. Program anomaly occurred immediately after launch when both cameras operated for 417 frames. Main cameras ceased operation on rev 52D of first portion of mission negating second portion. About 65% of aft camera film is out of focus.

18 November 1964 KH-4A 1014 (ORBIS) Launch Site: Vandenberg . Launch Vehicle: TA Thor Agena D. Mass: 1,500 kg. Perigee: 177 km. Apogee: 329 km. Inclination: 70.0 deg.

KH-4A. Cameras operated successfully.

19 December 1964 KH-4A 1015 Launch Site: Vandenberg . Launch Vehicle: TA Thor Agena D. Mass: 1,500 kg. Perigee: 193 km. Apogee: 405 km. Inclination: 74.9 deg.

KH-4A. Discrepancies in planned and actual coverage due to telemetry problems during the first 6 revolutions. Small out-of-focus areas on film from aft camera.

15 January 1965 KH-4A 1016 Launch Site: Vandenberg . Launch Vehicle: TA Thor Agena D. Mass: 1,500 kg. Perigee: 180 km. Apogee: 420 km. Inclination: 75.0 deg.

KH-4A. Smearing of highly reflective images due to reflections within camera.

25 February 1965 KH-4A 1017 Launch Site: Vandenberg . Launch Vehicle: TA Thor Agena D. Mass: 1,500 kg. Perigee: 177 km. Apogee: 377 km. Inclination: 75.1 deg.

KH-4A. Capping shutter malfunction occurred during last 5 passes of mission.

25 March 1965 KH-4A 1018 Launch Site: Vandenberg . Launch Vehicle: TA Thor Agena D. Mass: 1,500 kg. Perigee: 237 km. Apogee: 381 km. Inclination: 96.0 deg.

KH-4A. Cameras operated successfully. First KH-4A reconnaissance system to be launched into a retrograde orbit.

29 April 1965 KH-4A 1019 Launch Site: Vandenberg . Launch Vehicle: TA Thor Agena D. Mass: 1,500 kg. Perigee: 181 km. Apogee: 461 km. Inclination: 85.0 deg.

KH-4A. Cameras operated successfully. Malfunction in recovery mode on 1019-2 negated recovery.

18 May 1965 KH-4A 1021 Launch Site: Vandenberg . Launch Vehicle: TA Thor Agena D. Mass: 1,500 kg. Perigee: 321 km. Apogee: 399 km. Inclination: 75.0 deg.

KH-4A. Aft camera ceased operation on pass 102.

09 June 1965 KH-4A 1020 Launch Site: Vandenberg . Launch Vehicle: TA Thor Agena D. Mass: 1,500 kg. Perigee: 176 km. Apogee: 355 km. Inclination: 75.1 deg.

KH-4A. All cameras operated satisfactorily. Erratic attitude caused an early recovery after the second day of 1020-2.

19 July 1965 KH-4A 1022 Launch Site: Vandenberg . Launch Vehicle: TA Thor Agena D. Mass: 1,500 kg. Perigee: 189 km. Apogee: 461 km. Inclination: 85.1 deg.

KH-4A. All cameras operated satisfactorily.

17 August 1965 KH-4A 1023 Launch Site: Vandenberg . Launch Vehicle: TA Thor Agena D. Mass: 1,500 kg. Perigee: 179 km. Apogee: 399 km. Inclination: 70.0 deg.

KH-4A. Program anomaly caused the fore camera to cease operation during revolutions 103-132.

22 September 1965 KH-4A 102 Launch Site: Vandenberg . Launch Vehicle: TA Thor Agena D. Mass: 1,500 kg. Perigee: 191 km. Apogee: 364 km. Inclination: 80.0 deg.

KH-4A. All cameras operated satisfactorily. Cameras not operated on passes 88D-93D.

05 October 1965 KH-4A 1025 Launch Site: Vandenberg . Launch Vehicle: TA Thor Agena D. Mass: 1,500 kg. Perigee: 202 km. Apogee: 322 km. Inclination: 75.1 deg.

KH-4A. Main cameras operated satisfactorily.

28 October 1965 KH-4A 1026 Launch Site: Vandenberg . Launch Vehicle: TA Thor Agena D. Mass: 1,500 kg. Perigee: 173 km. Apogee: 432 km. Inclination: 74.9 deg.

KH-4A. All cameras operated satisfactorily.

09 December 1965 KH-4A 1027 Launch Site: Vandenberg . Launch Vehicle: TA Thor Agena D. Mass: 1,500 kg. Perigee: 186 km. Apogee: 439 km. Inclination: 80.1 deg.

KH-4A. Erratic attitude necessitated recovery after two days of operation. All cameras operated satisfactorily.

24 December 1965 KH-4A 1028 Launch Site: Vandenberg . Launch Vehicle: TA Thor Agena D. Mass: 1,500 kg. Perigee: 181 km. Apogee: 443 km. Inclination: 80.0 deg.

KH-4A. Cameras operated satisfactorily.

02 February 1966 KH-4A 1029 Launch Site: Vandenberg . Launch Vehicle: TA Thor Agena D. Mass: 1,500 kg. Perigee: 182 km. Apogee: 428 km. Inclination: 75.0 deg.

KH-4A. Both panoramic cameras were operational throughout.

09 March 1966 KH-4A 1030 Launch Site: Vandenberg . Launch Vehicle: TA Thor Agena D. Mass: 1,500 kg. Perigee: 180 km. Apogee: 418 km. Inclination: 75.0 deg.

KH-4A. All cameras operated satisfactorily.

07 April 1966 KH-4A 1031 Launch Site: Vandenberg . Launch Vehicle: TA Thor Agena D. Mass: 1,500 kg. Perigee: 193 km. Apogee: 312 km. Inclination: 75.1 deg.

KH-4A. The aft-looking camera malfunctioned after the recovery of bucket '1'. No material was received in bucket '2' (1031-2).

03 May 1966 KH-4A 1032 Launch Site: Vandenberg . Launch Vehicle: TA Thor Agena D. FAILURE: Agena-D failed. Failure. Mass: 1,500 kg.
24 May 1966 KH-4A 1033 Launch Site: Vandenberg . Launch Vehicle: TA Thor Agena D. Mass: 1,500 kg. Perigee: 179 km. Apogee: 271 km. Inclination: 66.0 deg.

KH-4A. The stellar camera shutter of bucket '2' remained open for approximately 200 frames.

21 June 1966 KH-4A 1034 Launch Site: Vandenberg . Launch Vehicle: TA Thor Agena D. Mass: 1,500 kg. Perigee: 207 km. Apogee: 359 km. Inclination: 80.1 deg.

KH-4A. Failure of velocity/altitude programmer produced poor imagery after revolution 5.

09 August 1966 KH-4A 1036 Launch Site: Vandenberg . Launch Vehicle: LT Thor Agena D. Mass: 1,500 kg. Perigee: 190 km. Apogee: 284 km. Inclination: 100.1 deg.

KH-4A. All cameras operated satisfactorily.

20 September 1966 KH-4A 1035 Launch Site: Vandenberg . Launch Vehicle: TA Thor Agena D. Mass: 1,500 kg. Perigee: 182 km. Apogee: 430 km. Inclination: 85.1 deg.

KH-4A. All cameras operated satisfactorily. First mission flown with pan geometry modification.

08 November 1966 KH-4A 1037 Launch Site: Vandenberg . Launch Vehicle: LT Thor Agena D. Mass: 1,500 kg. Perigee: 179 km. Apogee: 300 km. Inclination: 100.0 deg.

KH-4A. Second pan geometry mission. Higher than normal base plus fog encountered on both main camera records.

14 January 1967 KH-4A 1038 Launch Site: Vandenberg . Launch Vehicle: TA Thor Agena D. Mass: 1,500 kg. Perigee: 177 km. Apogee: 355 km. Inclination: 80.1 deg.

KH-4A. Fair image quality.

22 February 1967 KH-4A 1039 Launch Site: Vandenberg . Launch Vehicle: TA Thor Agena D. Mass: 1,500 kg. Perigee: 180 km. Apogee: 380 km. Inclination: 80.0 deg.

KH-4A. Normal KH-4 mission. Light from horizon camera on both main camera records during 1039-1.

30 March 1967 KH-4A 1040 Launch Site: Vandenberg . Launch Vehicle: TA Thor Agena D. Mass: 1,500 kg. Perigee: 167 km. Apogee: 326 km. Inclination: 85.0 deg.

KH-4A. Satellite flown nose first, all cameras operated satisfactorily.

09 May 1967 SRV 731 Launch Site: Vandenberg . Launch Vehicle: LT Thor Agena D. Mass: 60 kg. Perigee: 399 km. Apogee: 458 km. Inclination: 84.9 deg.

Radar monitoring. Due to the failure of the booster cut-off switch, the satellite went into a highly eccentric orbit.

16 June 1967 SRV 725 Launch Site: Vandenberg . Launch Vehicle: LT Thor Agena D. Mass: 60 kg. Perigee: 501 km. Apogee: 517 km. Inclination: 80.2 deg.

Radar monitoring.

07 August 1967 KH-4A 1043 Launch Site: Vandenberg . Launch Vehicle: LT Thor Agena D. Mass: 2,000 kg. Perigee: 174 km. Apogee: 346 km. Inclination: 79.9 deg.

KH-4A. Forward camera film came out of the rails on pass 230D. Film degraded past this point.

02 November 1967 SRV 733 Launch Site: Vandenberg . Launch Vehicle: LT Thor Agena D. Mass: 60 kg. Perigee: 454 km. Apogee: 525 km. Inclination: 81.6 deg.

Radar monitoring.

24 January 1968 SRV 741 Launch Site: Vandenberg . Launch Vehicle: LT Thor Agena D. Mass: 60 kg. Perigee: 470 km. Apogee: 545 km. Inclination: 81.7 deg.

Radar monitoring.

14 March 1968 SRV 747 Launch Site: Vandenberg . Launch Vehicle: LT Thor Agena D. Mass: 60 kg. Perigee: 481 km. Apogee: 524 km. Inclination: 83.1 deg.

Radar monitoring.

20 June 1968 SRV 745 Launch Site: Vandenberg . Launch Vehicle: LT Thor Agena D. Mass: 60 kg. Perigee: 435 km. Apogee: 514 km. Inclination: 85.1 deg.

Radar monitoring.

18 September 1968 KH-4A 1048 Launch Site: Vandenberg . Launch Vehicle: LT Thor Agena D. Mass: 2,000 kg. Perigee: 167 km. Apogee: 393 km. Inclination: 83.0 deg.

KH-4A. Film in the forward camera separated and camera failed on mission 1048-2, also the stellar/index camera unit failed.

12 December 1968 KH-4A 1049 Launch Site: Vandenberg . Launch Vehicle: LT Thor Agena D. Mass: 2,000 kg. Perigee: 169 km. Apogee: 248 km. Inclination: 81.0 deg.

KH-4A. Degraded film

19 March 1969 KH-4A 1050 Launch Site: Vandenberg . Launch Vehicle: LT Thor Agena D. Mass: 2,000 kg. Perigee: 165 km. Apogee: 252 km. Inclination: 82.9 deg.

KH-4A. Due to abnormal rotational rates after revolution 22, the mission was terminated after a total of three days collecting photography.

02 May 1969 KH-4A 1051 Launch Site: Vandenberg . Launch Vehicle: LT Thor Agena D. Mass: 2,000 kg. Perigee: 168 km. Apogee: 325 km. Inclination: 64.9 deg.

KH-4A. Imagery of both pan camera records is soft and lacks crispness and edge sharpness.

22 September 1969 KH-4A 1052 Launch Site: Vandenberg . Launch Vehicle: LT Thor Agena D. Mass: 2,000 kg. Perigee: 178 km. Apogee: 253 km. Inclination: 85.0 deg.

KH-4A. Last of the KH-4A missions, all camera systems operated satisfactorily.

Bibliography:

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Last update 12 March 2001.
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