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{{short description|Satellite that covertly collects data for intelligence or military applications}}
{{distinguish|military satellite}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2013}}
{{Globalize|article|date=January 2012}}

[[File:U.S. RecSat Big Picture.jpg|thumb|The complete list of U.S. reconnaissance satellites deployed from 1960 onward]]
[[File:CIA aerial view Osama bin Laden compound Abbottabad.jpg|thumb|275px|right|Aerial view of [[Osama bin Laden]]'s compound in the [[Pakistan]]i city of [[Abbottabad]] made by the CIA.]]
[[File:Kh-4b corona.jpg|thumb|right|KH-4B Corona satellite]]
[[File:Lacrosse sat.jpg|thumb|right|U.S. [[Lacrosse (satellite)|Lacrosse radar spy satellite]] under construction]]
[[File:SAR-Lupe.jpg|thumb|right|A model of a German [[SAR-Lupe]] reconnaissance satellite inside a Cosmos-3M rocket.]]
[[File:Rhyolite sat.svg|thumb|right|Microwave interception ([[Rhyolite (satellite)|Rhyolite]])]]

A '''reconnaissance satellite''' or '''intelligence satellite''' (commonly, although unofficially, 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=National Reconnaissance Office] |access-date=15 February 2014 }}</ref><ref name="NASA-Corona">{{cite web |url = http://space.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/Programs/corona.html |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110807195143/http://space.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/Programs/corona.html |url-status = dead |archive-date = 7 August 2011 |title = Corona Program |publisher =[[Mission and Spacecraft Library]] |access-date=16 February 2014 }}</ref> and [[Zenit (satellite)|Zenit]]) took photographs, then ejected canisters of [[photographic film]] which would descend back down into Earth's atmosphere. 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 about reconnaissance satellites is on programs that existed up to 1972, as this information has been [[Declassification|declassified]] due to its age. Some information about programs before that time is still [[classified information]], 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=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/12/08/weekinreview/the-nation-two-years-for-morison.html | title=Two Years for Morison | work=[[The New York Times]] | date=8 December 1985 | access-date=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 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090920093817/http://aupress.au.af.mil/Books/Erickson/erickson.pdf |archive-date= 20 September 2009 |df= dmy-all |year= 2005 }}</ref>

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

;Missile early warning
{{main|Defense Support Program|Space-Based Infrared System}}
:Provides warning of an attack by detecting [[ballistic missile]] launches. Earliest known are [[Missile Defense Alarm System]].{{cn|date=September 2019}}

;Nuclear explosion detection
:[[nuclear detonation detection system|Detects nuclear detonation]] from space. [[Vela (satellite)|Vela]] is the earliest known.{{cn|date=September 2019}}

;Electronic reconnaissance
:[[Signals intelligence]], intercepts stray [[radio]] waves. [[SOLRAD]] is the earliest known.<ref name=spy>{{cite web|url=https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history-magazine/2008/april/navys-spy-missions-space|title=The Navy's Spy Missions in Space|date=April 2008|publisher=U.S. Naval Research Laboratory|access-date=April 21, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190421145952/https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history-magazine/2008/april/navys-spy-missions-space|archive-date=April 21, 2019|url-status=live}} {{PD-notice}}</ref>

;Optical imaging surveillance
:[[Earth imaging satellite]]s. [[Satellite images]] can be a survey or close-look [[Telephoto lens|telephoto]]. [[Corona (satellite)|Corona]] is the earliest known. [[Spectral imaging]] is commonplace.

;Radar imaging surveillance
:Most [[space-based radar]]s use [[synthetic aperture radar]].{{cn|date=September 2019}} Can be used at night or through [[cloud cover]]. Earliest known are the Soviet [[US-A]] series.

==Missions==
Examples of reconnaissance satellite missions:
* High resolution photography ([[IMINT]])
* Measurement and Signature Intelligence ([[MASINT]])
* Communications eavesdropping ([[Signals intelligence|SIGINT]])
* Covert communications
* Monitoring of [[Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty|nuclear test ban]] compliance (see [[National Technical Means]])
* Detection of missile launches

On 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=27 August 2013 | access-date=16 February 2014 | author=Hennigan, W.J.}}</ref> was launched from California's Vandenberg Air Force Base using a Delta IV Heavy launcher, America's highest-payload space launch vehicle.

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 |access-date=2014-02-17 |publisher=[[Mashable]] |author=Melissa Goldin}}</ref>

==Benefits==
Reconnaissance satellites have been used to enforce human rights, through the [[Satellite Sentinel Project]], which monitors atrocities in [[Sudan]] and [[South Sudan]].

During his [[1980 State of the Union Address]], President [[Jimmy Carter]] explained how all of humanity benefited from the presence of American spy satellites:

{{quote|...photo-reconnaissance satellites, for example, are enormously important in stabilizing world affairs and thereby make a significant contribution to the security of all nations.<ref>{{cite web|title=The State of the Union Annual Message to the Congress|url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-state-the-union-annual-message-the-congress-0|work=1980 State of the Union Address|publisher=The American Presidency Project|access-date=11 April 2014}}</ref>}}

Additionally, companies such as [[GeoEye]] and [[DigitalGlobe]] have provided commercial satellite imagery in support of natural disaster response and humanitarian missions.<ref>{{cite web |title = Commercial Satellite Imagery Companies Partner with the U.S. Geological Survey in Support of the International Charter "Space and Major Disasters" |url = http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=1647#.Uz81dlcvn84 |website = USGS Newsroom |publisher = [[United States Geological Survey]] |access-date=4 April 2014 }}</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 |last = Heppenheimer |first = T. A. |author-link = T. A. Heppenheimer |year=1998 |url= https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4221/contents.htm |pages = 191, 198 }}</ref>}}

==In fiction==
Spy satellites are commonly seen in [[spy fiction]] and [[military fiction]]. Some works of fiction that focus specifically on spy satellites include:
* ''[[The OMAC Project]]''
* ''[[Enemy of the State (film)|Enemy of the State]]''
* ''[[Body of Lies (film)|Body of Lies]]''
* ''[[Ice Station Zebra]]''
* ''[[Parmanu: The Story of Pokhran]]''
* ''[[Patriot Games]]''

==See also==
{{Portal|Spaceflight}}
* [[Aerial reconnaissance]]
* [[Defense Support Program]] (U.S.)
* [[European Union Satellite Centre]]
* [[List of intelligence gathering disciplines]]
* [[List of Kosmos satellites]]
* [[National Reconnaissance Office]] (U.S.)
* [[Satcom on the Move]]

== References ==
{{Reflist|40em}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite book | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=fq4iR6xSt_QC | title = Spy satellites | publisher=[[Rosen Publishing Group]] | year=2003 |last = Kupperberg |first = Paul| author-link = Paul Kupperberg |isbn = 9780823938544 }} {{ISBN|0-8239-3854-9}}
* {{cite book | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Pmb1GioJEjwC | title = America's Secret Eyes in Space: the U.S. Keyhole Spy Satellite Program | publisher=Harper & Row | year=1990 | author=Richelson, Jeffrey| author-link = Jeffrey T. Richelson| isbn=9780887302855 }} {{ISBN|0-88730-285-8}}
* {{cite book |title = Spies in the Sky: Surveillance Satellites in War and Peace | publisher = Berlin; New York: Springer; Chichester, UK: In association with Praxis Publishing |year = 2008 |last = Norris |first = Pat | bibcode = 2008spsk.book.....N |oclc = 154711855 }}

== External links ==
* [https://fas.org/irp/imint/ FAS Intelligence Resource Program – Imagery Intelligence (IMINT)]
* [http://www.globalsecurity.org/space/systems/imint.htm GlobalSecurity.org: Imagery Intelligence]
* [http://www.isracast.com/transcripts/230905b_trans.htm Iran to Launch first spy satellite]
* [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]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20091027181013/http://rst.gsfc.nasa.gov/ Military Intelligence Satellites] (NASA, remote sensing tutorial)

{{-}}
{{Rest of the World Reconnaissance Satellites}}
{{US Reconnaissance Satellites}}
{{Russian Reconnaissance Satellites}}
{{Spaceflight}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spy Satellite}}
[[Category:Reconnaissance satellites| ]]
[[Category:Espionage devices]]
[[Category:Satellites by type]]
[[Category:Earth observation satellites]]

Reconnaissance satellite - Revision history

>Citation bot: Add: bibcode, date. | Use this bot. Report bugs. | Suggested by Whoop whoop pull up | #UCB_webform 279/2193