How It Works - UK (2020-05)

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TECHNOLOGY AR ZONE!

SCANHERE

AR ZONE!

Discoverwhatlieswithinthese

top-secretelectronicspies

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.

MILITARYAND

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.