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

Agena narrated the audiobook for “Meet Me at Luke’s,” a guide that draws life lessons from the series, and is featured in the upcoming “Gilmore Girls” documentary “Drink Coffee, Talk Fast.”

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 19, 2025

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

After docking with the Agena and uncoupling several times, Gemini 11 completed a three-day flight with a splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean.

From New York Times • Nov. 7, 2017

On the wooden Agena was an exact copy of the experiment package I would find on the real Agena, and it was attached in the same way.

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