Samos (satellite)

An artist impression of SAMOS photoreconnaissance missions.

The SAMOS (Misidentified as Satellite and Missile Observation System) [1] or SAMOS-E program was a relatively short-lived series of reconnaissance satellites for the United States in the early 1960s, also used as a cover for the initial development of the KH-7 GAMBIT system.[2] Reconnaissance was performed with film cameras and television surveillance from polar low Earth orbits with film canister returns and transmittals over the United States. SAMOS was first launched in 1960 from Vandenberg Air Force Base.

SAMOS was also known by the unclassified terms Program 101 and Program 201.[3]

  1. ^ https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/spacecraft/query - type SAMOS in the spacecraft box.
  2. ^ Gerald K. Haines (1997). "Development of the GAMBIT and HEXAGON Satellite Reconnaissance Systems" (PDF). National Reconnaissance Office. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-07-13. Retrieved 2011-10-08.
  3. ^ Jonathan McDowell. "The history of spaceflight: SAMOS". Planet4589.org. Retrieved 2007-06-09.