Samos ( satellite ) The Samos E or SAMOS ( Satellite and Missile Observation System ) program was a relatively short - lived series of reconnaissance satellites for the United States in the early 1960s , also used as a cover for the initial development of the KH - 7 Gambit system . Reconnaissance was performed with film cameras and television surveillance from polar low Earth orbits with film canister returns and transmittals over the United States . Samos was first launched in 1960 , but not operational until 1963 and all were launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base . SAMOS was also known by the unclassified terms Program 101 and Program 201 . History and costs . Samos started as part of the WS - 117L satellite reconnaissance and protection program of the US Air Force in 1956 . In May 1958 the Department of Defense directed the transfer of the WS - 117L program to ARPA . Significant parts of the Samos development program were Samos - E ( visual reconnaissance ) , Samos - F ( ELINT Ferret reconnaissance ) , and Samos - H ( communications ) . In FY1958 WS - 117L was funded by the AF at a level of US $ 108 . 2 million ( inflation adjusted US $ billion in ) . For Samos , AF and ARPA spent a combined sum of US $ 82 . 9 million in FY1959 ( inflation adjusted US $ billion in ) and US $ 163 . 9 million in FY1960 ( inflation adjusted US $ billion in ) . Vehicle missions . From October 1960 to November 1962 , at least 11 launch attempts were made . Portions of the program are still considered classified information . It is believed that the program was cancelled because the imagery produced was poor . The program was operated by the United States Air Force , but was overshadowed by the CIA ' s Corona program . At least two different generations of the satellite were made , and at least four different types of cameras were used . Early on , the idea was to use frame readout camera s that would take a picture and send the scanned image via radio to ground stations on Earth . This system was apparently troublesome , so the program also developed a photographic film return system where the camera and used film would be ejected and be retrieved as it floated down through the atmosphere by parachute . Film - return satellites would remain the standard until the KH - 11 satellite with digital imaging capability emerged in the 1970s . Equipment . The E - 1 and E - 2 cameras used the readout method . Little is known about the E - 3 type of camera , which was eventually cancelled . It likely had higher resolution , and may have been superseded by the later E - 6 . An E - 4 camera was initially planned for relatively low - resolution mapmaking purposes , but it was cancelled with the functionality being taken up by the KH - 5 ( Argon ) satellite . The E - 5 and E - 6 were panoramic format film cameras that appeared in later launches , but only a few were used . The E - 5 would later be called upon in the short - lived KH - 6 ( Lanyard ) program . Some satellites were equipped with so - called Ferret devices , for " ferreting " information by spying on electronic communication . A more modern term for that activity would be Signals Intelligence . Toward the end of the program , satellites were only being launched with Ferrets , without any cameras . Two Ferret systems were created , designated F - 1 and F - 2 . Some additional payloads were sometimes on board , mostly scientific devices for learning more about the space environment so that future satellites could be better - designed for spaceflight . The satellites as launched varied in mass from 1845 to 1900 kilograms . Orbit . Samos - 2 was the first satellite to enter a sun - synchronous orbit . Recovery by Soviets . Sergei Khrushchev wrote in his memoirs about the partial recovery of what he believed was a Samos satellite , except the date was the winter before the program started . A second capsule was apparently recovered in early 1961 , although the device had been disassembled by local farmers , exposing film and preventing the Soviets from determining the satellite ' s capabilities . It may or may not have been a Samos .