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Military satellite
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Military satellite
A military satellite is an artificial satellite used for a military purpose. The most common missions are intelligence gathering, navigation and military communications.
The first military satellites were photographic reconnaissance missions. Some attempts were made to develop satellite based weapons but this work was halted in 1967 following the ratification of international treaties banning the deployment of weapons of mass destruction in orbit.
As of 2013, there are 950 satellites of all types in Earth orbit. It is not possible to identify the exact number of these that are military satellites partly due to secrecy and partly due to dual purpose missions such as GPS satellites that serve both civilian and military purposes. As of December 2018 there are 320 known military or dual-use satellites in the sky, half of which are owned by the US, followed by Russia, China and India.
The first military use of satellites was for reconnaissance.
In the United States the first formal military satellite programs, Weapon System 117L, was developed in the mid-1950s. Within this program a number of sub-programs were developed including Corona. Satellites within the Corona program carried different code names. The first launches were code named Discoverer. This mission was a series of reconnaissance satellites, designed to enter orbit, take high-resolution photographs and then return the payload to Earth via parachute. Discoverer 1, the first mission, was launched on 28 February 1959 although it didn't carry a payload being intended as a test flight to prove the technology. Corona was followed by other programs including Canyon (seven launches between 1968 and 1977), Aquacade and Orion (stated by US Government sources to be extremely large). There have also been a number of subsequent programs including Magnum and Trumpet, but these remain classified and therefore many details remain speculative.
The Soviet Union began the Almaz (Russian: Алмаз) program in the early 1960s. This program involved placing space stations in Earth orbit as an alternative to satellites. Three stations were launched between 1973 and 1976: Salyut 2, Salyut 3 and Salyut 5. Following Salyut 5, the Soviet Ministry of Defence judged in 1978 that the time consumed by station maintenance outweighed the benefits relative to automatic reconnaissance satellites.[citation needed]
In 2015, United States military space units and commercial satellite operator Intelsat became concerned about apparent reconnaissance test maneuvers by the Russian satellite Olymp-K, launched in September 2014, when it maneuvered between Intelsat 7 and Intelsat 901, which are located only half a degree from one another in geosynchronous orbit.
The first satellite navigation system, Transit, used by the United States Navy, was tested in 1960. It used a constellation of five satellites and could provide a navigational fix approximately once per hour.
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Military satellite
A military satellite is an artificial satellite used for a military purpose. The most common missions are intelligence gathering, navigation and military communications.
The first military satellites were photographic reconnaissance missions. Some attempts were made to develop satellite based weapons but this work was halted in 1967 following the ratification of international treaties banning the deployment of weapons of mass destruction in orbit.
As of 2013, there are 950 satellites of all types in Earth orbit. It is not possible to identify the exact number of these that are military satellites partly due to secrecy and partly due to dual purpose missions such as GPS satellites that serve both civilian and military purposes. As of December 2018 there are 320 known military or dual-use satellites in the sky, half of which are owned by the US, followed by Russia, China and India.
The first military use of satellites was for reconnaissance.
In the United States the first formal military satellite programs, Weapon System 117L, was developed in the mid-1950s. Within this program a number of sub-programs were developed including Corona. Satellites within the Corona program carried different code names. The first launches were code named Discoverer. This mission was a series of reconnaissance satellites, designed to enter orbit, take high-resolution photographs and then return the payload to Earth via parachute. Discoverer 1, the first mission, was launched on 28 February 1959 although it didn't carry a payload being intended as a test flight to prove the technology. Corona was followed by other programs including Canyon (seven launches between 1968 and 1977), Aquacade and Orion (stated by US Government sources to be extremely large). There have also been a number of subsequent programs including Magnum and Trumpet, but these remain classified and therefore many details remain speculative.
The Soviet Union began the Almaz (Russian: Алмаз) program in the early 1960s. This program involved placing space stations in Earth orbit as an alternative to satellites. Three stations were launched between 1973 and 1976: Salyut 2, Salyut 3 and Salyut 5. Following Salyut 5, the Soviet Ministry of Defence judged in 1978 that the time consumed by station maintenance outweighed the benefits relative to automatic reconnaissance satellites.[citation needed]
In 2015, United States military space units and commercial satellite operator Intelsat became concerned about apparent reconnaissance test maneuvers by the Russian satellite Olymp-K, launched in September 2014, when it maneuvered between Intelsat 7 and Intelsat 901, which are located only half a degree from one another in geosynchronous orbit.
The first satellite navigation system, Transit, used by the United States Navy, was tested in 1960. It used a constellation of five satellites and could provide a navigational fix approximately once per hour.
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