Samos 3

Samos 3 was an American reconnaissance satellite which was lost in a launch failure in 1961.^[1] It was an early electro-optical reconnaissance spacecraft, meaning that it transmitted images to receiving stations on Earth rather than returning them in a film capsule, and was to have been operated as part of the Samos programme. Samos 3 was the only Samos-E2 spacecraft to be launched. Samos-E2 satellites were based around an Agena-B, and carried a camera with a focal length of 91 centimetres (36 in), and a resolution of 6 metres (20 ft).^[2]

The launch of Samos 3 occurred at 19:28 UTC on 9 September 1961. An Atlas LV-3A Agena-B rocket was used, flying from Launch Complex 1-1 at the Point Arguello Naval Air Station.^[3] At the moment of liftoff, one of the launch tower umbilicals failed to detach. It sent a signal shutting off the Atlas's engines, causing the booster to fall back onto the pad and explode.^[4] Samos 3 was to have operated in a Sun-synchronous low Earth orbit, at an altitude of 480 kilometres (300 mi) and with 83 degrees of inclination.^[4] The satellite had a mass of around 1,900 kilograms (4,200 lb),^[4] and was designed to operate for around four months.^[2] Samos 3 was the last DOD-related launch to be unclassified, and afterwards, much greater secrecy would be put around such flights.

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