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Article: Satellites, Spy
- Article from:
- Encyclopedia of Espionage, Intelligence, andSecurity
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CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Satellites, Spy
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LARRY GILMAN
Spy satellites are robotic observational platforms that orbit the Earth in order to image its surface and to record radio signals for military and political purposes. They transmit their data to Earth, where it is interpreted by specialists in centralized, secretive facilities such as the U.S. National Photographic Interpretation Center in Washington, D.C. Spy satellites have been essential not only to military operations and the formation of national policy but to the verification of arms control treaties such as SALT I, SALT II, and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.
Hundreds of spy satellites have been launched since 1960, when the U.S. ...