![agena spacecraft agena spacecraft](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/9f/2b/eb/9f2beb2c2a31e600e715008c00f6414a.jpg)
![agena spacecraft agena spacecraft](https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/4-s66-54565.jpg)
Launched in March 1963 on the back of a reconnaissance satellite, a rocket failure resulted in the entire spacecraft ending up in the Pacific Ocean. The first P-11 satellite never made it to orbit.
![agena spacecraft agena spacecraft](https://roberthall.pictures/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/NASA-Agena-44ft-DW0068.jpg)
Page from an Agena handbook showing the basic P-11 satellite bus, built by Lockheed, and its mounting and deployment from the Agena spacecraft. The project was named Program 11, and the satellites soon were known as P-11s. There was enough room on the long sides of the box to carry electronics, and clever engineers found ways to fold multiple antennas along the top, bottom, and sides. The initial proposal was for a circular-shaped satellite that would have been about the size of a large pizza (although thicker), but this was quickly refined into a squat, pyramidal box about the size of a fat suitcase. It is now possible to describe the missions and equipment of many of these P-11 satellites, which performed electronic wizardry in the murky recesses of the Cold War, and probably beyond. The deployed satellite could even have a small solid rocket motor that could propel it to a higher orbit.
#Agena spacecraft free#
There was extra room near the Agena’s engine, and somebody realized that a small satellite could be placed there, getting a free ride to orbit. The Agena served as a second stage and also provided stability, power, and communications for numerous military and intelligence payloads, making it both a rocket stage and a spacecraft. In the early 1960s, somebody at Lockheed Missiles and Space Company-it is not clear who-came up with the idea of putting a small satellite on the back end of an Agena spacecraft and popping it off when the Agena reached orbit.