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Discoverer 11
Launch SuccessfulLaunch Details
Date: 15 Apr 1960, 08:30 pm UTC
Rocket: Thor Agena A (Thor)
Provider: United States Air Force
Mission
Type: Government/Top Secret
Orbit: Low Earth Orbit
Pad: Space Launch Complex 1E, Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
Mission Description
Discoverer 11 was an American optical reconnaissance satellite. The eighth of ten operational flights of the Corona KH-1 spy satellite series, it successfully employed the first space-worthy camera film; however, Discoverer's film return capsule was lost during reentry on 16 Apr when the satellite's spin motors exploded.