KH-7 no. 3 (SV 953) was launched on 1963 Oct 25 by Atlas Agena D from Point Arguello. The RV was recovered after 2 days; the OCV spacecraft remained in orbit for 4 days and was deorbited on Oct 29; the Agena D 4703 rocket stage separated in orbit and reentered on Oct 29 together with two pieces of debris. This flight qualified the OCV stabilization system. The mission was the first to use a very low perigee: 145 km according to the launch report; 123 km by the time of the first element set five hours after launch.
| Program 206 SV 953 | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1963 Oct 25 | 1859:27 | Launch by Atlas Agena D | NMFPA |
| 1901:42 | BECO (T+2:15) | ||
| 1904:00 | SECO (T+4:33) | ||
| 1904:07 | VECO (T+4:40) | ||
| 1904:10 | Atlas sep (T+4:43) | ||
| 1905:35 | Agena burn (T+6:08) | ||
| 1909:37 | Agena MECO (T+10:10) | 88.97 145 x 339 x 99.1 (VCR) | |
| 1963 Oct 26 | 0000 | 88.99 144 x 332 x 99.05 (RAE) | |
| 0025 | 88.87 123 x 313 x 99.05 | ||
| 1963 Oct | SV 953 orbit | 88.8 123 x 312 x 99.1 (SATCAT) | |
| 1963 Oct 27 | 1900 | SV 953 orbit | 88.70 140 x 272 x 99.1 (RAE) |
| 1922 | 88.61 119 x 292 x 99.1 | ||
| 1963 Oct 27 | 2120? | RV sep on Rev 34 | |
| 2135? | RV recovered | ||
| 2130? | OCV sep from Agena D | ||
| 1963 Oct 27 | 2130 | 41B orbit | 88.85 136 x 297 x 99.1 (RAE) |
| 1963 Oct | Agena (41B) orbit | 88.7 120 x 305 x 99.1 (SATCAT) | |
| 1963 Oct 29 | 0000?? | Agena reentered | |
| 1963 Oct 29 | Debris 41C, 41D reentered | ||
| 1963 Oct 29 | 1900? | OCV Reentered after 4.0d | |