List of Thor DM-21 Agena-B launches

Thor DM-21 Agena-B or just Thor-Agena was a series of orbital launch vehicles. The rockets used the Douglas-built Thor first stage and the Lockheed-built Agena second stages. They are thus cousins of the more-famous Thor-Deltas, which founded the Delta rocket family. The first attempted launch of a Thor DM-21 Agena-B was in January 1959. The first successful launch was on 28 February 1959, launching Discoverer 17.[1]

Launch statistics

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Launch outcome

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1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
  •   Success
  •   Failure
  •   Partial Failure

Launchpad

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1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
  •   VAFB LC-75-3-4
  •   VAFB LC-75-3-5
  •   VAFB LC-75-1-1

Orbit

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1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20

Function

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1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30

Launch history

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The data in this table comes from[2]
Date/Time
(UTC)
Rocket S/N Launch Site Payload Function Orbit Outcome Remarks
1960-10-26
20:26
Thor DM-21 Agena-B Thor 253
Agena 1061
VAFB LC-75-3-4 Discoverer 16 Reconnaissance LEO Failure Maiden flight of Thor-Agena B. Agena staging failed. Vehicle fell into the Pacific Ocean.
1960-11-12
20:43
Thor DM-21 Agena-B Thor 297
Agena 1062
VAFB LC-75-3-5 Discoverer 17 Reconnaissance LEO Success
1960-12-07
20:20:58
Thor DM-21 Agena-B Thor 296
Agena 1103
VAFB LC-75-3-4 Discoverer 18 Reconnaissance LEO Success
1960-12-20
20:32
Thor DM-21 Agena-B Thor 258
Agena 1101
VAFB LC-75-3-5 Discoverer 19 Technology LEO Success
1961-02-17
20:25
Thor DM-21 Agena-B Thor 298 VAFB LC-75-3-4 Discoverer 20 Reconnaissance LEO Success
1961-02-18
22:58
Thor DM-21 Agena-B Thor 261
Agena 1102
VAFB LC-75-3-5 Discoverer 21 Technology LEO Success
1961-03-30
20:34:43
Thor DM-21 Agena-B Thor 300
Agena 1105
VAFB LC-75-3-4 Discoverer 22 Reconnaissance LEO Failure Agena control failure.
1961-04-08
19:21
Thor DM-21 Agena-B Thor 307
Agena 1106
VAFB LC-75-3-5 Discoverer 23 Reconnaissance LEO Success
1961-06-08
21:16
Thor DM-21 Agena-B Thor 302
Agena 1108
VAFB LC-75-3-4 Discoverer 24 Reconnaissance LEO Failure Agena power failure
1961-06-16
23:02
Thor DM-21 Agena-B Thor 303
Agena 1107
VAFB LC-75-1-1 Discoverer 25 Reconnaissance LEO Success
1961-07-07
23:29:48
Thor DM-21 Agena-B Thor 308
Agena 1109
VAFB LC-75-3-5 Discoverer 26 Reconnaissance LEO Success
1961-07-21
22:35
Thor DM-21 Agena-B Thor 322
Agena 1110
VAFB LC-75-3-4 Discoverer 27 Reconnaissance LEO Failure Open circuit in guidance computer led to loss of control and vehicle breakup at T+60 seconds.
1961-08-04
00:01
Thor DM-21 Agena-B Thor 309
Agena 1111
VAFB LC-75-1-1 Discoverer 28 Reconnaissance LEO Failure Agena control system malfunctioned
1961-08-30
20:00
Thor DM-21 Agena-B Thor 323
Agena 1112
VAFB LC-75-3-4 Discoverer 29 Reconnaissance LEO Success
1961-09-12
19:59
Thor DM-21 Agena-B Thor 310
Agena 1113
VAFB LC-75-3-5 Discoverer 30 Reconnaissance LEO Success
1961-09-17
21:00
Thor DM-21 Agena-B Thor 324
Agena 1114
VAFB LC-75-1-1 Discoverer 31 Reconnaissance LEO Success
1961-10-13
19:22
Thor DM-21 Agena-B Thor 328
Agena 1115
VAFB LC-75-3-4 Discoverer 32 Reconnaissance LEO Success 100th Thor launch
1961-10-23
19:23
Thor DM-21 Agena-B Thor 329
Agena 1116
VAFB LC-75-3-5 Discoverer 33 Reconnaissance LEO Failure Agena hydraulics failure
1961-11-05
20:00
Thor DM-21 Agena-B Thor 330
Agena 1117
VAFB LC-75-1-1 Discoverer 34 Reconnaissance LEO Failure Incorrect guidance program left the satellite in a useless orbit.
1961-11-15
21:23
Thor DM-21 Agena-B Thor 326
Agena 1118
VAFB LC-75-3-4 Discoverer 35 Reconnaissance LEO Success
1961-12-12
20:40
Thor DM-21 Agena-B Thor 325
Agena 1119
VAFB LC-75-3-4 Discoverer 36
Oscar 1
Reconnaissance
Amateur radio satellite
LEO Success
1962-01-13
21:41
Thor DM-21 Agena-B Thor 327
Agena 1120
VAFB LC-75-3-4 Discoverer 37 Reconnaissance LEO Failure Agena restart burn failed.
1962-02-21
18:44
Thor DM-21 Agena-B Thor 332
Agena 2301
VAFB LC-75-3-5 FTV 2301 ELINT LEO Partial failure Upper stage failed to restart for circularization burn
1962-02-27
19:39
Thor DM-21 Agena-B Thor 241
Agena 1123
VAFB LC-75-3-4 Discoverer 38 Reconnaissance LEO Success
1962-04-18
00:54
Thor DM-21 Agena-B Thor 331
Agena 1124
VAFB LC-75-3-5 Discoverer 39 Reconnaissance LEO Success
1962-04-29
00:30:12
Thor DM-21 Agena-B Thor 333
Agena 1125
VAFB LC-75-3-4 FTV 1125 Reconnaissance LEO Success
1962-05-15
19:36
Thor DM-21 Agena-B Thor 334
Agena 1126
VAFB LC-75-3-5 FTV 1126 Reconnaissance LEO Success
1962-05-30
01:00:04
Thor DM-21 Agena-B Thor 336
Agena 1128
VAFB LC-75-1-1 FTV 1128 Reconnaissance LEO Success
1962-06-02
00:31
Thor DM-21 Agena-B Thor 335
Agena 1127
VAFB LC-75-3-4 FTV 1127
Oscar 2
Reconnaissance
Amateur radio
LEO Success
1962-06-18
20:20
Thor DM-21 Agena-B Thor 343
Agena 2312
VAFB LC-75-3-5 FTV 2312 ELINT LEO Success
1962-06-23
00:30
Thor DM-21 Agena-B Thor 339
Agena 1129
VAFB LC-75-3-4 FTV 1129 Reconnaissance LEO Success
1962-07-21
00:56
Thor DM-21 Agena-B Thor 342
Agena 1130
VAFB LC-75-3-5 FTV 1130 Reconnaissance LEO Success
1962-07-28
00:30
Thor DM-21 Agena-B Thor 347
Agena 1131
VAFB LC-75-3-4 FTV 1131 Reconnaissance LEO Success
1962-09-01
20:39
Thor DM-21 Agena-B Thor 348
Agena 1132
VAFB LC-75-3-5 FTV 1132 Reconnaissance LEO Success
1962-09-17
23:46
Thor DM-21 Agena-B Thor 350
Agena 1133
VAFB LC-75-3-4 FTV 1133
ERS-2
Reconnaissance
Technology
LEO Success
1962-09-29
06:05
Thor DM-21 Agena-B Thor 341
TA-1
VAFB LC-75-1-1  Alouette 1
TAVE
Ionospheric
Technology
LEO Success
1962-10-09
18:35
Thor DM-21 Agena-B Thor 352
Agena 1134
VAFB LC-75-3-4 FTV 1134 Reconnaissance LEO Success
1962-11-05
22:04
Thor DM-21 Agena-B Thor 356
Agena 1136
VAFB LC-75-3-4 FTV 1136 Reconnaissance LEO Success
1962-11-24
22:01
Thor DM-21 Agena-B Thor 367
Agena 1135
VAFB LC-75-3-4 FTV 1135 Reconnaissance LEO Success
1963-01-16
21:59
Thor DM-21 Agena-B Thor 363
Agena 2313
VAFB LC-75-3-5 OPS 0180 ELINT LEO Success
1965-11-29
04:48
Thor DM-21 Agena-B Thor 453
Agena 6102
VAFB LC-75-1-1 Alouette 2 / Explorer 31 (DME) Ionospheric research satellite / Ionospheric research satellite MEO Success

References

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  1. ^ "Thor Agena B". www.astronautix.com. Archived from the original on December 27, 2016. Retrieved 2021-08-04.
  2. ^ "Thor-DM21 Agena-B". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 2021-08-04.