Users want “over the hill” insight in as close to real time as possible-meaning seconds or minutes-to identify the source of ground fires or movements beyond the line of sight Hexagon, first launched in 1971 as a replacement for Corona, provided more persistent imagery, packing 60-mile rolls of light-sensitive film and four return vehicles. to see finer details for areas of interest identified by Corona imagery. In 1963, Gambit provided the highest-resolution imagery yet from space, allowing the U.S. Working together, the Air Force, NRO, the Department of Defense, the CIA, and industry created amazingly complex imaging satellites. Corona began as a CIA program with help from the Air Force and, in 1961, the Kennedy administration authorized the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). The Air Force had been working on satellites since 1956 and it had learned to track and recover film-carrying re-entry vehicles. would have a crucial intelligence edge and the ability to gather data about its adversaries. Even if the U-2 couldn’t fly high enough, satellites in space could reach a whole different level. would soon have the means to gather intelligence from beyond the Earth’s atmosphere. Eisenhower had another solution in the works, however: He had authorized development of space-based surveillance and reconnaissance, and the U.S.
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