Editing Reconnaissance satellite (section)

{{short description|Satellite that covertly collects data for intelligence or military applications}}
{{distinguish|military satellite}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2022}}
{{Globalize|article|date=January 2012}}

[[File:U.S. RecSat Big Picture.jpg|thumb|A list of the types 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 |archive-date = 22 February 2014 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140222141831/http://www.nro.gov/history/csnr/corona/ |url-status = dead }}</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> or US President [[Donald Trump]] [[Donald Trump on social media|tweeting]] a classified image of the aftermath of a failed test of Iran's [[Safir (rocket)|Safir]] rocket in 2019.<ref name="brumfiel20190830">{{cite web |last1=Brumfiel |first1=Geoff |date=30 August 2019 |title=Trump Tweets Sensitive Surveillance Image of Iran |url=https://www.npr.org/2019/08/30/755994591/president-trump-tweets-sensitive-surveillance-image-of-iran |access-date=2019-09-01 |website=NPR}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Oberhaus |first=Daniel |date=3 September 2019 |title=Trump Tweeted a Sensitive Photo. Internet Sleuths Decoded It |journal=Wired (San Francisco, Calif.). |publisher=Wired |url=https://www.wired.com/story/trump-tweeted-a-sensitive-photo-internet-sleuths-decoded-it/ |issn=1059-1028}}</ref>