The HEXAGON Reconnaissance Satellite and the Space Shuttle

View Video Presentation: https://doi.org/10.2514/6.2022-2229.vid The HEXAGON reconnaissance satellite first entered service in 1971, providing area search coverage at medium resolution, and soon becoming one of the most important intelligence collection systems for the United States, vital for strategic assessment of the Soviet Union and arms control treaty monitoring. Starting in 1973, the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), which operated the HEXAGON, began studying options for launching, recovering, and even servicing the HEXAGON in orbit. By the late 1970s, the NRO began studying methods for accomplishing the HEXAGON’s mission using cameras mounted in the shuttle’s payload bay as well as deploying free-flyer satellites. Eventually, the NRO began development of the DAMON program which used the HEXAGON camera system and other components mounted in the shuttle payload bay. By the early 1980s, as the HEXAGON was scheduled for retirement, the NRO also considered recovery and reflight of the last HEXAGON missions. When the HEXAGON was eventually retired, its capabilities were not replaced.