Spy Satellite facts

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In 1977, William Kampiles stole a top-secret KH-11 spy satellite manual from the CIA which he sold to the Russians for $3000. He then told the CIA for who he worked what he had done in the hopes that they would hire him as a double agent. They didn't and he was sentenced to 40 years in prison.

how spy satellites work?

Some of the first US spy satellites took imagery on 70 millimeter film, which was recovered by dropping huge film canisters from space and catching them mid-air by a passing US Air Force plane

What can spy satellites see?

In my opinion, it is useful to put together a list of the most interesting details from trusted sources that I've come across answering what resolution do spy satellites have. Here are 49 of the best facts about Spy Satellite India and Spy Satellite Launch I managed to collect.

what is spy satellite?

George Clooney uses most of his earnings from the Nespresso adverts to fund a spy satellite over Sudan to prevent genocide.
George Clooney spent his Nespresso earnings on a spy satellite to watch Sudan warlord accused of genocide and other war crimes, Omar Al Bashir.
The first American spy satellites literally dropped their film from space in a "film bucket" that was then scooped up in midair by a plane.
Older generation spy satellites predated any form of digital imaging by decades. They literally exposed film and dropped it back to earth in small re-entry pods.
The US govt donated two spy satellites to NASA in 2012. Both were more powerful than Hubble and were set to be decommissioned because they were deemed obsolete.
The first spy satellites would eject capsules of photographic film back to earth, which would then be caught mid-flight by aeroplanes and returned to ground for photos to be developed.
A group of amateur astronomers track down goverment spy satellites and publish the information, which is supposed to be classified.
Digital cameras were developed so spy satellites could send images back to earth more quickly. Before digital cameras in 1976, spy satellites used film. After the film was shot, the satellites loaded the footage into capsules and dropped them from orbit into the atmosphere for collection.
Cold War spy satellites from the 1960s took pictures of 10,000 ancient cities and ruins in the Middle East which nobody knew existed until they were re-examined in 2014. The images were made before modern cities overran many archaeological sites.

spy satellite facts — What do spy satellites do?

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Boeing was banned from bidding on contracts for US spy satellites after one of their contracts went over budget by at least $4 billion before it was ultimately cancelled and given to Lockheed Martin.

Each new US spy satellite under the "Key Hole" program is expected to cost more than the latest Nimitz-class aircraft carriers. - source

George Clooney, as the spokesman for Nespresso, spends most of the money he makes from the deal on keeping a spy satellite operating. The satellite is over the North and South Sudan border, monitoring Omar al-Bashir and his army. - source

After a classified Corona spy satellite's film capsule was found by Venezuelan farmers and broken open, the US realized that labeling it "Secret" was a bad idea. Later capsules offered in eight languages a reward for returning it to American officials.

The design of the Space Shuttle was influenced by the United States Air Force, which wanted the ability to snatch Soviet spy satellites out of orbit. - source

When was the first camera equipped spy satellite launched?

A Top-Secret KH-11 Spy Satellite Manual was stolen from the CIA Headquarters in Langley by a low-ranking clerk. They only found out after the clerk flew back from a Soviet Embassy in Greece and petitioned the CIA to work for them as a double agent. They refused and he was sentenced to 40 years.

How many spy satellites are in orbit?

An amateur astronomer was able to take detailed pictures of a secret military KH-12 spy satellite in orbit - from his backyard

In 2007, wreckage from a Russian spy satellite re-entered Earth's atmosphere, coming within 8 km of an in-flight passenger jet. The pilot reported hearing the sonic boom as it passed.

Hubble telescope is smaller, cheaper, and of a lower capacity than many spy satellites

Spy satellites in the 60's erased fears of a missile gap and President LBJ claimed they were worth it because "We were building things we didn't need to build"

The United States had a network of spy satellites that were used to take reconnaissance pictures of the USSR and China, and the film cannisters were often retrieved by plane as the fell to Earth.

When was the first spy satellite launched?

In 1977 a Russian spy satellite with a a nuclear reactor crashed in northern Canadian leaving radioactive debris scattered across a 600-kilometer (370 mi) path

Originally the spy film being shot on space satellites was dropped from space in a film bucket and scooped up by airplanes midair.

In 2013, the US National Reconnaissance Office launched a spy satellite who's mission logo featured a giant octopus latched onto the Earth with the motto "Nothing is Beyond Our Reach".

Cold-war spy satellites dropped canisters of photographic film retireved from the atmosphere by parachute

The U.S. has installed a device on its spy satellites called a "Bhangmeter" which is used to detect and measure the yields of nuclear explosions. The name derives from "bhang", a type of marijuana grown in India.

How powerful are spy satellites?

About a 1972 Top Secret spy satellite capsule that was supposed to reenter the atmosphere and be caught by an airplane. The plane missed, the capsule sank three miles deep in the ocean, and it was so important the CIA sent a submarine down to go find it (CIA pdf linked).

President Eisenhower was pleased that the USSR was first in sending a satellite to space. Sputnik 1 set a precedent for "freedom of space" that allowed the US to launch spy satellites without fear of them getting shot down.

George Clooney used to spend the money he earned from Nespresso advertisement on a satellite that would spy on the Sudan dictator Omar al-Bashir

US Navy shot down a disabled US spy satellite which contained a fuel tank of toxic hydrazine and was about to uncontrollably reenter earth.

Early spy satellites dropped their film canisters from space which were subsequently caught in mid-air by military airplanes

The US Air Force built a secret Space Shuttle launch complex in California to launch spy missions and satellites into orbit. The facility was finished in 1985 but never used due to the Challenger disaster.

There is a strange zigzag pattern in the Gobi Desert that might be used to calibrate China's spy satellites.

Space capsule containing image from spy satellite were recovered by planes mid flight after being ejected back to earth

In 2008, the US government shot down one of their own spy satellites using a missile launched from a Naval cruiser, the USS Lake Erie.

USAF and National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) participated in the design of NASA's space shuttle throughout the 1970 and used space shuttle missions to covertly launch US spy satellites.

When the first high-res photos of the moon were taken by US satellites in 1966, they intentionally added noise and reduced the quality to hide their superior spy satellite camera technology from the USSR.

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