Reconnaissance Satellites Are A National Security Sine Qua Non America's first "spy" satellite, the KH-1 Corona, conducted its first reconnaissance mission in August 1960. The satellite used photographic film to record high-resolution images of the Soviet Union from space. It released canisters of exposed film in a recovery vehicle, which fell to Earth with a parachute and was retrieved so the film could be developed. The same method was used by subsequent US photo-reconnaissance satellite types KH-2 through KH-9. The KH-1 through KH-9 (Keyhole) programs encompassed nearly 150 satellite launches between 1960 and 1972. The heavily classified National Reconnaissance Office...