Discoverer 34 was a USAF photographic surveillance satellite designed to access how rapidly the Soviet Union was producing long-range bombers and ballistic missiles, and where they were being deployed. It was part of the Corona program which was also used to produce maps and charts for the Department of Defense and other US government mapping programs. It was launched by the U.S. Air Force Ballistic Missile Division into a polar orbit (apogee 614 miles, perigee 140 miles, inclination 82.6 deg) with a period of 96.9 min. It was in orbit although silent as of 1966. The spacecraft was to implement evaluation of design reliability and accuracy of the spacecraft orbit, capsule re-entry, and recovery.