The SAMOS (misidentified as Satellite and Missile Observation System) or SAMOS-E 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 from Vandenberg Air Force Base. SAMOS was also known by the unclassified terms Program 101 and Program 201.
History
Background
WS-117L and costs SAMOS started as part of the WS-117L satellite reconnaissance and protection program of the United States 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 (optical reconnaissance), SAMOS-F (ELINT Ferret reconnaissance). In FY1958, WS-117L was funded by the Air Force at a level of US$ 108.2 million (inflation adjusted US$ 1.21 billion in 2025). For SAMOS, USAF, and ARPA spent a combined sum of US$82.9 million in FY1959 (inflation adjusted US$ 0.92 billion in 2025) and US$163.9 million in FY1960 (inflation adjusted US$ 1.78 billion in 2025).
CORONA and SAMOS
During this period, the rival CORONA program, which saw its first launch in February 1959, began operation. SAMOS emerged as a more advanced satellite with additional capabilities that due to its larger mass would be launched on the Atlas-Agena booster instead of the Thor-Agena. While CORONA took photographs and returned them to Earth in a film capsule, SAMOS would instead electronically scan its film and beam images down by radio link. While CORONA began flying in 1959, the reliability of the program for its first three years was abysmal and a backup reconnaissance program was needed. Moreover, the fear of the "missile gap" with the Soviet Union was very great, with space successes and boasts by Soviet politicians seeming to hint that the USSR not only had a large arsenal of nuclear missiles on hand, but were quite willing to use them. The US ballistic missile arsenal in 1960 consisted of a handful of Atlas ICBMs that were exposed to Soviet attack, took a long time to prepare for launch, and whose test flight record did not inspire much confidence. The Thor and Jupiter IRBMs stationed in the UK, Italy, and Turkey were not much of an improvement, also their bases could be attacked by Soviet bombers. Intelligence on Soviet missile activities was considered vital, but the only viable option, U-2 reconnaissance flights, had been halted by the Gary Powers shootdown in May 1960. Unbeknownst to the Pentagon, Soviet missiles were deployed in far smaller numbers than generally believed and their reliability was no better than any US missile. The initial SAMOS satellites were known as Program 101 and were merely a test model designed to verify the operability of the photo-optical camera system.
Name and secrecy "Samos" was the name of a Greek island and the name was picked with the belief that nobody would associate it with reconnaissance. However, a mistaken rumor later emerged that the name was an acronym for "Satellite And Missile Observation System". President Eisenhower was adamant about cultivating the image that the US space program was only for peaceful purposes. The Air Force for a while managed to create the fiction that Discoverer was a series of scientific satellites, but SAMOS's real purpose was known from the beginning, and efforts to not link it to Discoverer were made. Although the existence and mission purpose of SAMOS was publicly acknowledged until the fall of 1961, the Air Force did not release detailed information about the satellites or exactly what they were doing during their missions.
SAMOS 1
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