The Corona program was a series of American strategic reconnaissance satellites produced and operated by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Directorate of Science & Technology with substantial assistance from the U.S. Air Force. The CORONA satellites were used for photographic surveillance of the Soviet Union (USSR), China, and other areas beginning in June 1959 and ending in May 1972.
The recovery of the Discoverer 14 return capsule (typical for the CORONA series)
A KH-4B CORONA satellite
Discoverer 14 launch 1960, Thor Agena "A" launch vehicle
CORONA image of The Pentagon, 25 September 1967
A reconnaissance satellite or intelligence satellite is an Earth observation satellite or communications satellite deployed for military or intelligence applications.
A list of the types of U.S. reconnaissance satellites deployed from 1960 onward
Aerial view of Osama bin Laden's compound in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad made by the CIA.
KH-4B Corona satellite
U.S. Lacrosse radar spy satellite under construction