KH-9 Hexagon

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KH-9 (BYEMAN codename HEXAGON), commonly known as Big Bird or KeyHole-9, was a series of photographic reconnaissance satellites launched by the United States between 1971 and 1986. Of twenty launch attempts by the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), all but one were successful. Photographic film aboard the KH-9 was stored on RCA Astro Electronic Division take up reel system then sent back to Earth in recoverable film return capsules for processing and interpretation. The highest ground resolution achieved by the main cameras of the satellite was 2 ft (0.61 m), though another source says "images in the 'better-than-one-foot' category" for the last "Gambit" missions. They are officially known as the Broad Coverage Photo Reconnaissance satellites (Code 467). The satellites were built by Lockheed Corporation for the NRO. The satellites were an important factor in determining Soviet military capabilities and in the acquisition of accurate intelligence for the formulation of U.S. national policy...

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