[SatNews] Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] has congratulated the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) and National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) on the 50-year anniversary of the first Corona photo reconnaissance satellite image from space, which ushered in new space-based capabilities for the nation.

First developed as a joint U.S. Air Force and Central Intelligence Agency program to provide surveillance from space of denied territories, Corona achieved mission success on August 18, 1960, when an Air Force C-119 aircraft recovered — in mid-air — the satellite's capsule containing imagery captured by the satellite's panoramic camera system. Corona, which had to surpass technical barriers never crossed before, served as a foundation program for the NRO. Launched into polar orbits by U.S. Air Force Thor boosters, the spacecraft flew at approximate altitudes of 100 nautical miles to take pictures of selected target areas. The exposed film, some 2.1 million feet, was returned to earth in capsules ejected from the satellites. The program flew 145 missions, producing more than 800,000 images critical to national security during its 12-year duration. Corona marked many ‘firsts’ in space history, including the first recovery of a manmade object (capsule) from space and the first Lockheed Martin satellite in space. The first image from Corona was 104 days after U2 flights were suspended over the former Soviet Union following the shoot down of Francis Gary Powers in May 1960.