Agena

American  

[uh-jee-nuh] / əˈdʒi nə /

noun

Rocketry.

1. a U.S. upper stage, with a restartable liquid-propellant engine, used with various booster stages to launch satellites into orbit around Earth and send probes to the moon and other planets: also used as a docking target in the Gemini program.

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Example Sentences

Keiko Agena likes to create moments of coziness — not just on Sundays, but whenever she possibly can.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 19, 2025

On the three-day mission, he and crew mate John Young, a spaceflight veteran, established a new orbital altitude record and rendezvoused with two unmanned Agena target vehicles.

From Washington Post • Apr. 28, 2021

Collins used a handheld gas thruster to get himself under control and after Young moved the Gemini capsule closer, tried again, this time successfully grabbing hold of some wires on the Agena to steady himself.

From Scientific American • Apr. 28, 2021

The three-day mission saw him and crew mate John Young, a spaceflight veteran, establish a new orbital altitude record and rendezvous with two unmanned Agena target vehicles.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 28, 2021

This process wasted fuel, and we were running short of that, and we wanted to save what was left to get back down into a lower orbit after we had finished with this Agena.

From "Flying to the Moon: An Astronaut's Story" by Michael Collins