Spies in the Sky: The Ultimate Guide to Spy Satellites and Their Secrets
The CORONA (Discoverer) program operated from 1959 to 1972 as the United States’ first photo-reconnaissance satellite program, with Discoverer XIV achieving the first mid-air film recovery in August 1960. KH-11 KENNEN (CRYSTAL), first launched in 1976, introduced electro-optical digital imaging with about 15 cm per-pixel resolution, and a 2019 declassified image from USA-224 reportedly achieved around 10 cm resolution. Lacrosse/Onyx, the US SAR reconnaissance program begun in 1988, used large radar antennas for all-weather imaging and was succeeded by the smaller Topaz (FIA Radar) satellites in the 2010s. The USSR’s Zenit series began in 1961 with over 500 launches using