Military weather-related and scientific/research satellites

Below are checklists of military weather-related and scientific/research satellites, including launch dates and images of the satellites. This is a work in progress, and completeness is our goal. If readers know of additional information or images, please contact the authors using the e-mail addresses at the bottom of this page.

Satellite series covered:

U.S. Air Force (USAF) Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP)^* series:

Satellite	Launch Date	Images
		reference	launch covers	other postal items
DMSP-1A-F1 / P35-1 [failed]	1962-05-24	DMSP-1A	DMSP	DMSP
DMSP-1A-F2 / P35-2	1962-08-23
DMSP-1A-F3 / P35-5 [failed]	1963-09-27
DMSP-2A-F1 / P35-3	1963-02-19
DMSP-2A-F2 / P35-4 [failed]	1963-04-26
DMSP-3A-F1 / P35-6	1964-01-19
DMSP-3A-F2 / P35-7	1964-01-19
DMSP-3A-F3 / P35-8	1964-06-18
DMSP-3A-F4 / P35-9	1964-06-18
DMSP-3B-F1	1965-01-19
DMSP-3B-F2	1965-03-18
DMSP-3B-F3	1965-05-20
DMSP-3B-F4	1965-09-09
DMSP-3B-F5 [failed]	1966-01-07
DMSP-3B-F6	1966-03-30
DMSP-4A-F1	1966-09-16	DMSP-4A DMSP-4A DMSP-4
DMSP-4A-F2	1967-02-08
DMSP-4A-F3	1967-08-23
DMSP-4A-F4	1967-10-11
DMSP-4B-F1	1968-05-23
DMSP-4B-F2	1968-10-23
DMSP-4B-F3	1969-07-23
DMSP-5A-F1	1970-02-11	DMSP-5A DMSP-5A DMSP-5
DMSP-5A-F2	1970-09-03
DMSP-5A-F3	1971-02-17
DMSP-5B-F1	1971-10-14	DMSP-5B DMSP-5B DMSP-5B/5C DMSP-5B/5C
DMSP-5B-F2	1972-03-24
DMSP-5B-F3	1972-11-08
DMSP-5B-F4	1973-08-17
DMSP-5B-F5	1974-03-16
DMSP-5C-F1	1974-08-08	DMSP-5C DMSP-5B/5C DMSP-5B/5C
DMSP-5C-F2	1975-05-23
DMSP-5C-F3 [failed]	1976-02-19
DMSP-5D1-F1 / AMS-1	1976-09-11	DMSP-5D DMSP-5D DMSP-5D1
DMSP-5D1-F2 / AMS-2	1977-06-04
DMSP-5D1-F3 / AMS-3	1978-05-01
DMSP-5D1-F4 / AMS-4	1979-06-06
DMSP-5D1-F5 / AMS-5 [failed]	1980-07-14
DMSP-5D2-F6	1982-12-21	DMSP-5D2 DMSP-5D2
DMSP-5D2-F7	1983-11-18
DMSP-5D2-F8 / USA-26	1987-06-20
DMSP-5D2-F9 / USA-29	1988-02-03
DMSP-5D2-F10 / USA-68	1990-12-01
DMSP-5D2-F11 / USA-73	1991-11-28
DMSP-5D2-F12 / USA-106	1994-08-29
DMSP-5D2-F13 / USA-109	1995-03-24	DMSP-5D3 DMSP-5D3
DMSP-5D2-F14 / USA-131	1997-04-04
DMSP-5D3-F15 / USA-147	1999-12-12
DMSP-5D3-F16 / USA-172	2003-10-18
DMSP-5D3-F17 / USA-191	2006-11-04
DMSP-5D3-F18 / USA-210	2009-10-18
DMSP-S19	2013-?
DMSP-S20	2014-?

^*DMSP numbering follows that given by Gunter's Space Page.

U.S. Air Force (USAF) Discoverer / Corona-series satellites:

Satellite	Launch Date	Images
		reference	launch covers	other postal items
Discoverer-0 / Corona-0 [failed]	1959-01-21	Discoverer Discoverer	Discoverer	Discoverer
Discoverer-1 / Corona-1	1959-02-28
Discoverer-2 / Corona-2	1959-04-13
Discoverer-3 / Corona-3 [failed]	1959-06-03
Discoverer-4 / Corona-4 / KH1-1 [failed]	1959-06-25
Discoverer-5 / Corona-5 / KH1-2	1959-08-13
Discoverer-6 / Corona-6 / KH1-3	1959-08-19
Discoverer-7 / Corona-7 / KH1-4	1959-11-07
Discoverer-8 / Corona-8 / KH1-5	1959-11-20
Discoverer-9 / Corona-9 / KH1-6 [failed]	1960-02-04
Discoverer-10 / Corona-10 / KH1-7 [failed]	1960-02-19
Discoverer-11 / Corona-11 / KH1-8	1960-04-15
Discoverer-12 / Corona-12 [failed]	1960-06-29
Discoverer-13 / Corona-13	1960-08-10
Discoverer-14 / Corona-14 / KH1-9	1960-08-18
Discoverer-15 / Corona-15 / KH1-10	1960-09-13
Discoverer-16 / Corona-16 / KH2-1 [failed]	1960-10-26
Discoverer-17 / Corona-17 / KH2-2	1960-11-12
Discoverer-18 / Corona-18 / KH2-3	1960-12-07
Discoverer-19 / Corona-19 / RM-1	1960-12-20
Discoverer-20 / Corona-20 / KH5-1	1961-02-17
Discoverer-21 / Corona-21 / RM-2	1961-02-18
Discoverer-22 / Corona-22 / KH2-4 [failed]	1961-03-30
Discoverer-23 / Corona-23 / KH5-2	1961-04-08
Discoverer-24 / Corona-24 / KH5-3 [failed]	1961-06-08
Discoverer-25 / Corona-25 / KH2-5	1961-06-16
Discoverer-26 / Corona-26 / KH2-6	1961-07-07
Discoverer-27 / Corona-27 / KH5-4 [failed]	1961-07-22
Discoverer-28 / Corona-28 / KH2-7 [failed]	1961-08-03
Discoverer-29 / Corona-29 / KH3-1	1961-08-30
Discoverer-30 / Corona-30 / KH3-2	1961-09-12
Discoverer-31 / Corona-31 / KH3-3	1961-09-17
Discoverer-32 / Corona-32 / KH3-4	1961-10-13
Discoverer-33 / Corona-33 / KH3-5 [failed]	1961-10-23
Discoverer-34 / Corona-34 / KH3-6	1961-11-05
Discoverer-35 / Corona-35 / KH3-7	1961-11-15
Discoverer-36 / Corona-36 / KH3-8	1961-12-12
Discoverer-37 / Corona-37 / KH3-9 [failed]	1962-01-13
Discoverer-38 / Corona-38 / KH4-1	1962-02-27
Discoverer-39 / Corona-39 / KH4-2	1962-04-18
(Later) KeyHole (KH) series reconnaissance satellites

U.S. Air Force (USAF) Environmental Remote Sensing (ERS), Tetrahedral Research Satellite (TRS), and Octahedral Research Satellite (ORS) series satellites:

Satellite	Launch Date	Images
		reference	launch covers	other postal items
ERS-2 / TRS-2	1962-09-17	ERS	ERS-2	TRS TRS TRS
ERS-1 / TRS-1	1962-11-11
ERS-3 / TRS-3	1962-12-17
ERS-4 / TRS-4	1962-12-17
ERS-5 / TRS-5	1963-05-09		MIDAS-7+TRS-5+6+DASH-1+Westford-2
ERS-6 / TRS-6	1963-05-09
ERS-7 / TRS-7	1963-06-12
ERS-8 / TRS-8	1963-06-12
ERS-9 / TRS-9	1963-07-19		MIDAS-9+TRS-9+10+DASH-2
ERS-10 / TRS-10	1963-07-19
ERS-11 / TRS-11	Not launched
ERS-12 / TRS-12	1963-10-17		ERS-12+Vela-1+2 ERS-12+Vela-1+2
ERS-13 / TRS-13	1964-07-17		ERS-13+Vela-3+4 ERS-13+Vela-3+4
ERS-14 / TRS-14	Not launched
ERS-17 / ORS-3	1965-07-20	ORS-3 ERS-17+Vela-5+6	ERS-17+Vela-5+6 ERS-17+Vela-5+6 ERS-17+Vela-5+6 (wrong image)
ERS-16 / ORS-2	1966-06-09
ERS-15 / ORS-1	1966-08-19
ERS-18 / ORS-4	1967-04-28		ERS-18+OV5-1+OV5-3+Vela-7+8 (not Vela-4)

U.S. Air Force (USAF) Vela-series satellites:

Satellite	Launch Date	Images
		reference	launch covers	other postal items
Vela-1, Vela-2	1963-10-17	Vela	Vela-1	ERS-12+Vela-1+2 ERS-12+Vela-1+2
Vela-3, Vela-4	1964-07-17		ERS-13+Vela-3+4
Vela-5, Vela-6	1965-07-20	ERS-17+Vela-5+6	ERS-17+Vela-5+6 ERS-17+Vela-5+6 ERS-17+Vela-5+6 (wrong image)
Vela-7, Vela-8	1967-04-28		ERS-18+OV5-1+OV5-3+Vela-7+8 (not Vela-4)
Vela-9, Vela-10	1969-05-23		OV5-5+6+9+Vela-9+10 (not Vela-5)
Vela-11, Vela-12	1970-04-08		Vela-11+12

(Selected) U.S. Air Force (USAF) Orbiting Vehicle (OV) series satellites:

Satellite	Launch Date	Images
		reference	launch covers	other postal items
OV1-2	1965-10-05	OV1	OV1-2 OV1-2 OV1-2 (insert) OV1-2
OV2-1	1965-10-15		OV2-1 OV2-1 OV2-1 (insert) OV2-1
OV2-3	1965-12-21		OV2-3
OV1-8	1966-07-14	OV1-8
OV3-4	1966-06-10		OV3-4
OV3-1	1966-10-28		OV3-1
OV4-3	1966-11-03	OV4-3
OV3-5	1967-01-21	OV3	OV3-5
OV5-1, OV5-5	1967-04-28		ERS-18+OV5-1+OV5-3+Vela-7+8 (not Vela-4)
OV1-13, OV1-14	1968-04-06	OV1-14	OV1-13+14 OV1-13+14
OV1-15, OV1-16	1968-07-11		OV1-15+16+Cannonball-1 OV1-15+16+Cannonball-1
OV2-5, OV5-2, OV5-4	1968-09-26	OV2-5 OV5-4	LES-6+OV2-5+OV5-2+4
OV1-17, OV1-17A, OV1-18, OV1-19	1969-03-17		OV1-17+17A+18+19
OV5-5, OV5-6, OV5-9	1969-05-23		OV5-5+6+9+Vela-9+10 (not Vela-5)
OV1-20, OV1-21	1971-08-07		OV1-20+21+CannonBall-2+others

U.S. Air Force (USAF) Lincoln Experimental Satellite (LES) series:

Satellite	Launch Date	Images
		reference	launch covers	other postal items
LES-1	1965-02-11
LES-2	1965-05-06
LES-3, LES-4	1965-12-21		LES-3+4
LES-5	1967-07-01		DODGE+IDCSP-16+17+18+19+LES-5
LES-6	1968-09-26		LES-6 LES-6+OV2-5+OV5-2+4
LES-7	Unknown
LES-8, LES-9	1976-03-15		LES-8+9

U.S. Air Force (USAF) MIssile Defense Alarm System (MIDAS) series satellites:

Satellite	Launch Date	Images
		reference	launch covers	other postal items
MIDAS-1 [failed]	1960-02-26
MIDAS-2	1960-05-24		MIDAS-2 MIDAS-2
MIDAS-3	1961-07-12		MIDAS-3
MIDAS-4	1961-10-21		MIDAS-4 MIDAS-4 (Vanguard-3 image)
MIDAS-5	1962-04-09		MIDAS-5
MIDAS-6	1962-12-17
MIDAS-7	1963-05-09		MIDAS-7+TRS-5+6+DASH-1+Westford-2
MIDAS-8	1963-06-13
MIDAS-9	1963-07-18		MIDAS-9+TRS-9+10+DASH-2
MIDAS-10	1966-06-09
MIDAS-11	1966-08-19
MIDAS-12	1966-10-05

(Selected) U.S. Air Force (USAF) KeyHole (KH) series reconnaissance satellites:

Satellite	Launch Date	Images
		reference	launch covers	other postal items
(Earlier) Discoverer / Corona / KeyHole (KH) reconnaissance satellites
KH4-3	1962-04-28		KH4-3 KH4-3 (not Discoverer)
KH5-5	1962-05-15		KH5-5
KH4-4	1962-05-29		KH4-4
KH4-5	1962-06-02		KH4-5
KH4-14	1962-11-05		KH4-14
KH4-22	1963-06-26		KH4-22+Hitchhiker-1 (not Discoverer) KH4-22+Hitchhiker-1
KH4-25 [failed]	1963-11-27		KH4-25 (not Discoverer)
KH4A-19	1965-04-29		KH4A-19
KH4A-20	1965-05-18		KH4A-20
KH4B-4	1966-08-09		KH4B-4
KH8-07	1967-08-16		KH8-07
KH4A-50	1969-03-19		KH4A-50
KH4B-11	1970-07-22		KH4B-11
KH9-02	1972-01-20		KH9-02 (Big Bird-2)
KH8-34	1972-03-17		KH8-34 (ESRO-2 image) KH8-34 (ESRO-2 image)
KH4B-17	1972-05-25		KH4B-17
KH8-37	1972-12-21		KH8-37 (Satellite 647)
KH9-05	1973-03-09		KH9-05 (not SAMOS-92)
KH8-43	1974-08-14		KH8-43 (not SAMOS-100)
KH9-09	1974-10-29		KH9-09 (Big Bird-9, not SAMOS-101)
KH9-10	1975-08-06		KH9-10 (Big Bird-10, not SAMOS-103)
KH8-45	1975-10-09		KH8-45 (not SAMOS-104)
KH8-46	1976-03-22		KH8-46 (not DMSP)
KH11-3	1980-02-07		KH11-3
KH9-19 / USA-2	1984-06-26
KH11-6 / USA-6	1984-12-04
KH12-6 / NROL-49 / USA-224	2011-01-20		NROL-49

U.S. Air Force (USAF) Satellite And Missile Observation Satellite (SAMOS) series satellites:

Satellite	Launch Date	Images
		reference	launch covers	other postal items
SAMOS-1 [failed]	1960-10-11		SAMOS-1 SAMOS-1
SAMOS-2	1961-01-31		SAMOS-2 SAMOS-2 SAMOS-2
SAMOS-3 [failed]	1961-09-09
SAMOS-4	1961-11-22
SAMOS-5	1961-12-22
SAMOS-6	1962-03-07		SAMOS-6 SAMOS-6
SAMOS-7	1962-04-26		SAMOS-7
SAMOS-8	1962-06-17
SAMOS-9	1962-07-18
SAMOS-10	1962-08-05		SAMOS-10
SAMOS-11	1962-11-11

(Selected) U.S. Air Force (USAF) Defense Support Program (DSP) series satellites:

Satellite	Launch Date	Images
		reference	launch covers	other postal items
DSP-F1	1970-11-06	DSP-F1	DSP-F1 (not MIDAS-10)
DSP-F3	1972-03-01		DSP-F3 (not MIDAS-12)
DSP-F7	1977-02-06	DSP-F8	DSP-F7
DSP-F16 / USA-75 [STS-44/Atlantis-launched]	1991-11-21	DSP-F14 (similar)	DSP-F16

U.S. Air Force (USAF) Canyon-series satellites:

Satellite	Launch Date	Images
		reference	launch covers	other postal items
Canyon-1	1968-08-06		Canyon-1 Canyon-1 Canyon-1
Canyon-2	1969-04-13
Canyon-3	1970-09-01		Canyon-3
Canyon-4 [failed]	1971-12-04		Canyon-4
Canyon-5	1972-12-20
Canyon-6	1975-06-18
Canyon-7	1977-05-23

(Selected) National Reconaissance Office Launch (NROL) series satellites:

Satellite	Launch Date	Images
		reference	launch covers	other postal items
NROL-32 / USA-223	2010-22-21		NROL-32
NROL-49 / KH12-6 / USA-224	2011-01-20		NROL-49
NROL-66 / USA-225	2011-02-06		NROL-66
NROL-27 / SDS-3-6 / USA-227	2011-03-11		NROL-27
NROL-34 / NOSS-3-5 / USA-229	2011-04-15		NROL-34

Other (selected) U.S. military satellites:

Satellite	Launch Date	Images
		reference	launch covers	other postal items
DASH-1	1963-05-09		MIDAS-7+TRS-5+6+DASH-1+Westford-2
Westford-2	1963-05-09		MIDAS-7+TRS-5+6+DASH-1+Westford-2
Hitchhiker-1	1963-06-26	Hitchhiker	KH4-22+Hitchhiker-1 (not Discoverer) KH4-22+Hitchhiker-1
GRS	1963-06-29		GRS GRS
DASH-2	1963-07-18		MIDAS-9+TRS-9+10+DASH-2
ORBIS-1	1964-04-21		ORBIS-1 ORBIS-1
Hitchhiker-2	1964-08-14	Hitchhiker
Snapshot	1965-04-03		Snapshot+SECOR-4 (SNAP-10A) Snapshot+SECOR-4 (SNAP-10A)
GGTS	1966-06-16		GGTS+IDCSP-1 GGTS+IDCSP-1
DODGE	1967-07-01	DODGE	DODGE+IDCSP-16+17+18+19+LES-5
Cannonball-1 / LOADS-1	1968-07-11		OV1-15+16+Cannonball-1 OV1-15+16+Cannonball-1
Cannonball-2 / LOADS-2	1971-08-07	Cannonball-2	OV1-20+21+CannonBall-2+others
S71-2 / STP / FRUSA	1971-10-17		S71-2
Rhyolite-2 / Aquacade-2	1973-03-06		Rhyolite-2 Rhyolite-2
SPHINX	1974-02-11		SPHINX
NOSS-1 / Whitecloud-1	1976-04-30		Whitecloud-1
Rhyolite-4 / Aquacade-4	1978-04-07		Rhyolite-4
Magnum-1 / Orion-1 / USA-8 [STS-51C/Discovery-launched]	1985-01-24		Magnum-1
GLOMR [STS-51B/Challenger-attempted-launch]	1985-04-29	GLOMR	GLOMR (attempted-launch)
GLOMR-1 [STS-61A/Challenger-launched]	1985-10-30		GLOMR-1
DM-43 / SDI-1 / USA-19	1986-09-05		USA-19
Lacrosse-1 / Onyx-1 / USA-34 [STS-27R/Atlantis-launched]	1988-12-02		Lacrosse-1
GLOMR? / SSF / USA-41 [STS-28R/Colombia-launched]	1989-08-08	GLOMR	GLOMR? / SSF
Magnum-2 / Orion-2 / USA-48 [STS-33R/Discovery-launched]	1989-11-23		Magnum-2
Misty-1 / USA-53 [STS-36/Atlantis-launched]	1990-02-28		Misty-1
GLOMR? / MPEC / USA-70 [STS-39/Discovery-launched]	1991-04-28	GLOMR	GLOMR? / MPEC
STEP-4 [failed]	1997-10-23	STEP-4
Trumpet-3 / USA-136	1997-11-07		USA-136
Mightysat-1 (P97-2) [STS-88/Endeavour-launched]	1998-12-15	Mightysat-1	Mightysat-1
Mightysat-2 (P99-1, Sindri)	2000-07-19	Mightysat-2
MITEX-A, MITEX-B	2006-06-21	MITEX-A MITEX-B	MITEX-A+B
SBIRS-Geo / USA-230	2011-07-05	SBIRS-Geo	SBIRS-Geo-1
DWSS	Canceled	DWSS

French Helios-series reconnaissance satellites:

Satellite	Launch Date	Images
		reference	launch covers	other postal items
Helios-1A	1995-07-07	Helios Helios	Helios-1A+Cerise+Upm/lb	Helios
Helios-1B	1999-12-03
Helios-2A	2004-12-18		Helios-2A
Helios-2B	2009-12-18			Helios-2B Helios-2B Helios-2B Helios-2B Helios-2B

Israeli Ofeq-series reconnaissance satellites:

Satellite	Launch Date	Images
		reference	launch covers	other postal items
Ofeq-1	1988-09-19	Ofeq-1	Ofeq	Ofeq
Ofeq-2	1990-04-03	Ofeq-2
Ofeq-3	1995-04-05	Ofeq-3
Ofeq-4 / EROS-A [failed]	1998-01-23
Ofeq-5	2002-05-28	Ofeq-5
Ofeq-6 [failed]	2004-09-06
Ofeq-7	2007-06-10
Ofeq-8 / TechSAR-1	2008-01-21	TechSAR-1
Ofeq-9	2010-10-22
Ofeq-10	201?-?	Ofeq-10

Other (selected) German reconnaissance satellites:

Satellite	Launch Date	Images
		reference	launch covers	other postal items
SAR-Lupe-1	2006-12-19	SAR-Lupe-1	SAR-Lupe-1 SAR-Lupe-1
SAR-Lupe-2	2007-07-02

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