Reconnaissance satellite: Difference between revisions

A '''reconnaissance satellite''' (commonly referred to as a '''spy satellite''') is an [[Earth observation satellite]] or [[communications satellite]] deployed for [[Military intelligence|military]] or [[espionage|intelligence]] applications.

The first generation type (i.e. [[Corona (satellite)|Corona]]

<ref name="NRO-Corona">{{cite web |url=http://www.nro.gov/history/csnr/corona/ |title=Corona History |website=[http://www.nro.gov National Reconnaissance Office] |accessdate=February 15, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="NASA-Corona">{{cite web | url=http://space.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/Programs/corona.html | title=Corona Program | publisher=[http://space.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/ JPL Mission and Spacecraft Library] | accessdate=16 February 2014}}</ref>

and [[Zenit (satellite)|Zenit]]) took photographs, then ejected canisters of [[photographic film]] which would descend to earth. Corona capsules were [[mid-air retrieval|retrieved in mid-air]] as they floated down on [[parachute]]s. Later spacecraft had digital imaging systems and downloaded the images via [[encrypted]] radio links.

In the [[United States]], most information available is on programs that existed up to 1972, as this information has been [[Declassification|declassified]] due to its age. Some information about programs prior to that time is still [[classified information|classified]], and a small amount of information is available on subsequent missions.

A few up-to-date reconnaissance satellite images have been declassified on occasion, or leaked, as in the case of [[KH-11]] photographs which were sent to ''[[Jane's Defence Weekly]]'' in 1984.<ref name="NYT-1985-Morison">{{cite news | url=http://www.nytimes.com/1985/12/08/weekinreview/the-nation-two-years-for-morison.html | title=Two Years for Morison | work=[[New York Times]] | date=8 December 1985 | accessdate=16 February 2014 | last1=Wright | first1=Michael | last2=Herron | first2=Caroline Rand}}</ref>

== History ==

On 16 March 1955, the [[United States Air Force]] officially ordered the development of an advanced reconnaissance satellite to provide continuous surveillance of 'preselected areas of the earth' in order 'to determine the status of a potential enemy’s war-making capability'.<ref>{{cite book |title= Into the Unknown Together - The DOD, NASA, and Early Spaceflight |last= Erickson |first = Mark |isbn = 1-58566-140-6 |url= http://aupress.au.af.mil/Books/Erickson/erickson.pdf }}</ref>

In October 1957, the Soviet Union launched [[Sputnik 1]]. It was the first man-made object put in Earth's orbit.

The [[Manned Orbiting Laboratory]], in which USAF personnel were to carry out reconnaissance missions, was cancelled in the late 1970s due to high cost, and to improvements in [[digital photography]] making manned operation unnecessary.

==Types==

There are four major types of reconnaissance satellite.<ref>{{citation |url=http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/science/reconnaissance-satellite.html |title=reconnaissance satellite |publisher=Infoplease |accessdate=2014-02-17}}</ref>

;Early warning

:Provide warning of an attack by detecting [[missile]] launches

;Nuclear explosion detection

:Identifies and characterizes [[nuclear explosion]]s in space

;Photo surveillance

:Provides imaging of earth from space. Imaging can be done as a survey or close-look [[telephoto]]. [[Radar imaging]] can be used at night or through [[cloud cover]].

;Electronic-reconnaissance

:Intercepts stray [[radio]], [[radar]] or [[microwave]] signals

;Radar imaging

:Uses [[synthetic aperture radar]]. Earliest known are the [[Lacrosse (satellite)|Lacross]] series. [[RISAT]] series are among the more recent radar imaging satellites.

On Wednesday 28 August 2013, it was thought that "a $1-billion high-powered spy satellite capable of snapping pictures detailed enough to distinguish the make and model of an automobile hundreds of miles below"<ref name="LATimes-Rocket-2013">{{cite news | url=http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-vandenberg-monster-rocket-launch-20130826,0,1005990.story | title=Monster rocket to blast off from Pacific coast, rattle Southland | work=[[Los Angeles Times]] | date=August 27, 2013 | accessdate=16 February 2014 | author=Hennigan, W.J.}}</ref> was launched from California's Vandenberg Air Force Base using America's most powerful rocket.

On 17 February 2014 A Russian Kosmos-1220 originally launched in 1980 and used for naval missile targeting until 1982 made an uncontrolled [[atmospheric entry]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://mashable.com/2014/02/16/russian-satellite-earth/ |title=Fragments of Soviet-Era Satellite Burn Up in Earth's Atmosphere |date=2014-02-17 |accessdate=2014-02-17 |publisher=[[Mashable]] |author=Melissa Goldin}}</ref>

During the 1950s, a [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] hoax had led to American fears of a [[bomber gap]]. In 1968, after gaining satellite photography, the United States' intelligence agencies were able to state with certainty that "No new [[ICBM]] complexes have been established in the [[USSR]] during the past year."{{r|heppenheimer1998}} President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] told a gathering in 1967:

{{quote|I wouldn't want to be quoted on this ... We've spent $35 or $40 billion on the space program. And if nothing else had come out of it except the knowledge that we gained from space photography, it would be worth ten times what the whole program has cost. Because tonight we know how many missiles the enemy has and, it turned out, [[missile gap|our guesses were way off]]. We were doing things we didn't need to do. We were building things we didn't need to build. We were harboring fears we didn't need to harbor.<ref name="heppenheimer1998">{{cite book | title=The Space Shuttle Decision | publisher=NASA | author=Heppenheimer, T. A. | authorlink=T. A. Heppenheimer | year=1998 | url=http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4221/contents.htm | pages=191, 198}}</ref>}}

In December 2013, the US's [[National Reconnaissance Office]] was the target of criticism as a result of its choice of logo for the [[USA-247|NROL-39]] spy satellite: a giant octopus astride the world above the phrase "Nothing is Beyond Our Reach". This was seen as inappropriate coming in the wake of the [[Global surveillance disclosures (2013-present)|2013 disclosures of mass surveillance]].<ref name="FoxNews-NROL39-2013">{{cite news | url=http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2013/12/06/nothing-is-beyond-our-reach-nro-new-logo-claims/ | title='Nothing is beyond our reach,' National Reconnaissance Office's new logo claims | work=[[Fox News]] | date=6 December 2013 | accessdate=16 February 2014}}</ref><ref name="BusinessInsider-NROL39">{{cite news | url=http://www.businessinsider.com/nrol-39-logo-nothing-beyond-our-reach-2013-12 | title=US Spy Agency Boasts 'Nothing Is Beyond Our Reach' With New Logo | work=[[Business Insider]] | date=7 December 2013 | accessdate=16 February 2014 | author=Szoldra, Paul}}</ref>

{{Portal|Spaceflight}}

* [[Defense Support Program]] (U.S.)

* [[List of Kosmos satellites]]

* [[National Reconnaissance Office]] (U.S.)

==Further reading==

* {{cite book | url=http://books.google.com/books?id=fq4iR6xSt_QC&printsec=frontcover&dq=spy+satellite&hl=en&sa=X&ei=adc7T7fGDsjRiAKvjrGTDA&ved=0CFEQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=spy%20satellite&f=false | title=Spy satellites | publisher=[[Rosen Publishing Group]] | year=2003 | accessdate=February 15, 2012 | author=Kupperberg, Paul| authorlink=Paul Kupperberg}} ISBN 0-8239-3854-9

* {{cite book | url=http://books.google.com/books?id=Pmb1GioJEjwC&q=America's+secret+eyes+in+space:+The+U.S.+keyhole+spy+satellite+program&dq=America's+secret+eyes+in+space:+The+U.S.+keyhole+spy+satellite+program&hl=en&sa=X&ei=udY7T5S5CeLliAK8sIiTDA&ved=0CDkQ6AEwAA | title=America's Secret Eyes in Space: the U.S. Keyhole Spy Satellite Program | publisher=Harper & Row | year=1990 | accessdate=February 15, 2012 | author=Richelson, Jeffrey| authorlink = Jeffrey T. Richelson}} ISBN 0-88730-285-8

* [http://www.fas.org/irp/imint/ FAS Intelligence Resource Program - Imagery Intelligence (IMINT)]

* [http://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/egyptsat-1.htm Egyptsat1 (MisrSat 1)]

* [http://www.spacetoday.org/Rockets/Spaceports/Iraq.html Spaceports Around the World: Iraq's Al-Anbar Space Research Center]

{{Rest of the World Reconnaissance Satellites|state=collapsed}}

{{US Reconnaissance Satellites|state=collapsed}}

{{Russian Reconnaissance Satellites|state=collapsed}}

{{Spaceflight|state=expanded}}