Thor DM-18 Agena A or just Thor-Agena was a series of orbital launch vehicles. The rockets used the Douglas-built Thor first stage and the Lockheed-built Agena second stages. They are thus cousins of the more-famous Thor-Deltas, which founded the Delta rocket family. The first attempted launch of a Thor-Agena was in January 1959. The first successful launch was on 28 February 1959, launching Discoverer 1. It was the first two-stage rocket to place a satellite into orbit.
Launch statistics
Launch outcome
Launchpad
Launch history +The data in this table comes from and Date/Time(UTC) Rocket S/N Launch site Payload Function Orbit Outcome Remarks 1959-02-2821:49:16 Thor DM-18 Agena-A Thor 163Agena 1022 VAFB LC-75-3-4 Discoverer 1 Reconnaissance LEO Maiden flight of Thor-Agena. Agena telemetry lost T+730 seconds. Fate of the payload unknown, but generally presumed to have impacted somewhere in Antarctica. 1959-04-1321:18:39 Thor DM-18 Agena-A Thor 170Agena 1018 VAFB LC-75-3-4 Discoverer 2 Reconnaissance LEO 1959-06-0320:09:20 Thor DM-18 Agena-A Thor 174Agena 1020 VAFB LC-75-3-4 Discoverer 3 Reconnaissance LEO Agena attitude control malfunction pointed the stage in the wrong direction, sending it into the Pacific Ocean rather than orbit. 1959-06-2522:47:45 Thor DM-18 Agena-A Thor 179Agena 1023 VAFB LC-75-3-5 Discoverer 4 Reconnaissance LEO Agena developed insufficient thrust to attain orbital velocity. 1959-08-1319:00:08 Thor DM-18 Agena-A Thor 192Agena 1029 VAFB LC-75-3-4 Discoverer 5 Reconnaissance LEO 1959-08-1919:24:44 Thor DM-18 Agena-A Thor 200Agena 1028 VAFB LC-75-3-5 Discoverer 6 Reconnaissance LEO 1959-11-0720:28:41 Thor DM-18 Agena-A Thor 206Agena 1051 VAFB LC-75-3-4 Discoverer 7 Reconnaissance LEO 1959-11-2019:25:24 Thor DM-18 Agena-A Thor 212Agena 1050 VAFB LC-75-3-5 Discoverer 8 Reconnaissance LEO Orbit too eccentric for use of return capsule 1960-02-0418:51:45 Thor DM-18 Agena-A Thor 218 VAFB LC-75-3-4 Discoverer 9 Reconnaissance LEO Premature Thor cutoff. Agena could not attain orbital velocity. 1960-02-1920:15:14 Thor DM-18 Agena-A Thor 223Agena 1054 VAFB LC-75-3-5 Discoverer 10 Reconnaissance LEO Thor flight control malfunction. RSO T+52 seconds. 1960-04-1520:30:37 Thor DM-18 Agena-A Thor 234Agena 1055 VAFB LC-75-3-5 Discoverer 11 Reconnaissance LEO 1960-06-2922:00:44 Thor DM-18 Agena-A Thor 160Agena 1053 VAFB LC-75-3-4 Discoverer 12 Reconnaissance LEO Agena attitude control malfunction. 1960-08-1020:37:54 Thor DM-18 Agena-A Thor 231Agena 1057 VAFB LC-75-3-5 Discoverer 13 Reconnaissance LEO First successful recovery of a manmade object from orbit. 1960-08-1819:57:08 Thor DM-18 Agena-A Thor 237Agena 1056 VAFB LC-75-3-4 Discoverer 14 Reconnaissance LEO 1960-09-1322:14 Thor DM-18 Agena-A Thor 246Agena 1058 VAFB LC-75-3-5 Discoverer 15 Reconnaissance LEO
References