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Anatomy of a
spy satellite
1
Zenit
TheUSSR’sZenitsatelliteswere
launchedbetween 1961 and1994,
disguisedasscientificexploration
missionsusingthenameKosmos.
Over 500 satelliteswerelaunched
between 1981 and 1994.
2
SAR-Lupe
Germany’sfirstreconnaissance
missionis usedbythemilitary,and
it’smadeupoffivesatellitesthat
werelaunchedover a periodof
twoyears.
3
InformationGathering
Satellite(IGS)
Aftera NorthKoreanmissiletest
overJapanin1998,Japan’sfirstspy
satellitewaslaunchedinMarch
2003.Thecountry’smostrecent
intelligence-gatheringsatellitewas
launchedinFebruary 2020.
4
Zircon
Thiswassupposedtobe
Britain’sfirstspysatellite,butthe
projectwascancelledin 1987
becauseit wastooexpensive.
5
KH-11Kennen
ThefirstUSspysatellite
thatuseddigitalimagingwas
launchedin1976,andoverits
lifetimetherehavebeenfive
different generations.
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INTELLIGENCE
SATELLITES
© Illustration by Nicholas Forder
Relayantenna
Satellitesuseradiowavesto
downlinkimagerybacktoground
stationsonEarthfromanaltitude
ofabout 320 kilometres.
Thrusters
Frommanoeuvringitselfintothe
correctorbittomaintainingits
positionona target,allsatellitesneed
a wayofmovingthroughspace.
High-resolutioncamera
CCDsgatherimagestoforma digital
photographthat’stransmittedbacktoEarth.
Fuel
A fuelcalledhydrazineis used
tomakeslightadjustmentsto
theorbitofthesatelliteand
avoidcollisions.
Avionics
Thesatellite’selectrical
systemsandsoftwareactas
itsbrain,tellingit whattodo
andwhereit needstobe.
Primarymirror
Reportedlysomespysatelliteshave
a primarymirrorthat’s2.4-metres
wide– thesamediameterasthatof
theHubbleSpaceTelescope.
Secondarymirror
A steerablesecondary
mirrorhelpstoenhancethe
sharpnessoftheimages
takenbythesatellite.
Solarpanels
Large,fold-outpanelsharness
theSun’senergyintoelectricity
topowerthesatellite.