Editing Reconnaissance satellite (section)

== History ==
On 16 March 1955, the [[United States Air Force]] officially ordered the development of an advanced reconnaissance satellite to provide continuous surveillance of "preselected areas of the Earth" in order "to determine the status of a potential enemy's war-making capability".<ref>{{cite book |title= Into the Unknown Together – The DOD, NASA, and Early Spaceflight |last= Erickson |first= Mark |isbn= 1-58566-140-6 |url= http://aupress.au.af.mil/Books/Erickson/erickson.pdf |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090920093817/http://aupress.au.af.mil/Books/Erickson/erickson.pdf |archive-date= 20 September 2009 |year= 2005 |publisher= Air University Press }}</ref>

During the mid-late 1950s, both the United States and the Soviet Union took interest into reconnaissance satellites. The United States began the [[CORONA (satellite)|CORONA]] project, which encompassed several series of launches starting in 1959 and ending in 72. This program was made a priority to photograph denied areas, replace the [[Lockheed U-2|U-2]], and due to public concern about a technological gap between the West and the Soviet Union.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2010-03-07 |title=Sputnik launched — History.com This Day in History — 10/4/1957 |url=http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/sputnik-launched |access-date=2024-05-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100307192419/http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/sputnik-launched |archive-date=7 March 2010 }}</ref><ref>Angelo, Joseph A. (14 May 2014). [https://books.google.com/books?id=VUWno1sOwnUC Encyclopedia of Space and Astronomy]. Infobase. p. 489. {{ISBN|9781438110189}}</ref> It was expedited significantly after the shooting of a U-2 in 1960.<ref>{{citation-attribution|{{cite book|title=CORONA America's first satellite program |last1=United States|last2=Central Intelligence Agency|last3=Ruffner|first3=Kevin Conley|year=1995|publisher=Center for the Study of Intelligence, Central Intelligence Agency|page=xiii|oclc=42006243}}}}</ref>

Meanwhile, in the Soviet Union, a decree that authorized the development of sputnik apparently authorized a program for a satellite to be used for photo reconnaissance. This design evolved into Vostok, while another version became Zenit, which was an unmanned reconnaissance satellite. Zenit was launched from 1961 to 1994, however the last flight in 1994 was as a test payload.

Both the CORONA and Zenit satellites had to be recovered in order to access the used film, making them distinct from future reconnaissance satellites that could transmit photos without returning film to earth.<ref>Gorin, Peter (1997). "Zenit: Corona's Soviet Counterpart". In Robert A. McDonald (ed.). ''Corona: Between the Sun and the Earth: the first NRO reconnaissance eye in space''. Bethesda, MD: [[The American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing]]. pp. 84–107.</ref><ref>{{citation-attribution|{{cite web |title= Discoverer 1 |publisher= NASA |date=14 May 2020 |url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1959-002A |access-date=5 January 2021}}}}</ref>