Editing Reconnaissance satellite (section)

==Missions==
Examples of reconnaissance satellite missions:
* High resolution photography ([[IMINT]])
* Measurement and Signature Intelligence ([[MASINT]])
* Communications eavesdropping ([[Signals intelligence|SIGINT]])
* Covert communications
* Monitoring of [[Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty|nuclear test ban]] compliance (see [[National Technical Means]])
* Detection of missile launches

On 28 August 2013, it was thought that "a $1-billion high-powered spy satellite capable of snapping pictures detailed enough to distinguish the make and model of an automobile hundreds of miles below"<ref name="LATimes-Rocket-2013">{{cite news | url=http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-vandenberg-monster-rocket-launch-20130826,0,1005990.story | title=Monster rocket to blast off from Pacific coast, rattle Southland | work=[[Los Angeles Times]] | date=27 August 2013 | access-date=16 February 2014 | author=Hennigan, W.J.}}</ref> was launched from California's Vandenberg Air Force Base using a Delta IV Heavy launcher, America's highest-payload space launch vehicle at the time.

On 17 February 2014, a Russian Kosmos-1220 originally launched in 1980 and used for naval missile targeting until 1982, made an uncontrolled [[atmospheric entry]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://mashable.com/2014/02/16/russian-satellite-earth/ |title=Fragments of Soviet-Era Satellite Burn Up in Earth's Atmosphere |date=2014-02-17 |access-date=2014-02-17 |publisher=[[Mashable]] |author=Melissa Goldin}}</ref>