KH-7 Gambit - Functionality

Functionality

A high-resolution instrument, the KH-7 took detailed pictures of "hot spots" and most of its photographs are of Chinese and Soviet nuclear and missile installations, with smaller amounts of coverage of cities and harbors. Most of the imagery from this camera, amounting to 19,000 images, was declassified in 2002 as a result of Executive order 12951, the same order which declassified CORONA, and copies of the films were transferred to the U.S. Geological Survey's Earth Resources Observation Systems office. Approximately 100 frames covering the state of Israel remain classified.

The later KH-8 also used the Gambit codename.