Discoverer 22

Discoverer 22, also known as Corona 9015, was an American optical reconnaissance satellite which was lost in a launch failure in 1961. It was a KH-2 Corona' satellite, based around an Agena-B.^[1]

The launch of Discoverer 22 occurred at 20:34:43 UTC on 30 March 1961. A Thor DM-21 Agena-B rocket was used, flying from Launch Complex 75-3-4 at the Vandenberg Air Force Base.^[2] Due to a malfunction of the rocket's second stage, it failed to achieve orbit.^[3]

Discoverer 22 was to have operated in a low Earth orbit. It had a mass of 1,150 kilograms (2,500 lb),^[4] and was equipped with a panoramic camera with a focal length of 61 centimetres (24 in), which had a maximum resolution of 7.6 metres (25 ft).^[5] Images were to have been recorded onto 70-millimetre (2.8 in) film, and returned in a Satellite Recovery Vehicle. The Satellite Recovery Vehicle carried aboard Discoverer 22 was SRV-509.^[4]

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