It might seem an ordinary event, had it not been for this satellite being equipped with a platform for intelligence equipment. A purely navigational GPS has turned into an advanced intelligence system, appropriate for a variety of special tasks.

Military experts expect the world's major powers to spend as much as $30.6 billion for intelligence satellite programs in the next decade. By that time, around 100 military satellites of various types will be orbiting Earth.

Intelligence satellite constellations, including imagery intelligence -- optic and electronic, and radar intelligence -- electronic surveillance, military communications and space navigation satellites are packed with the following capabilities:

-- early warning of a nuclear missile attack;

-- timely detection of preparations for and start of hostilities;

-- sustained communication and combat control in the interest of the state leadership, strategic nuclear forces, and other branches and services;

-- navigational, hydro-meteorological support, cartographic survey support, time and frequency support for the armed forces.

The United States possesses the most powerful space intelligence network, having launched more than 500 satellites by now. The Key Hole imagery intelligence satellites, also codenamed Big Bird, are the heart of the U.S. space intelligence system.

The first of the series, the KH-9, was deployed in 1971. Now these "birds," weighing up to 15 tons, provide coverage of nearly all the Earth's surface. One of these satellites was given a special assignment in 2001 to track down Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan.

Nevertheless, the further operation of "Big Birds" is at risk. The Misty program, launched by Boeing and Lockheed Martin and aimed at the creation of advanced imagery intelligence satellites, has already consumed $7.6 billion with no significant results.

Last winter a U.S. Navy cruiser fired a missile and shot down malfunctioning satellite USA-193, which, military experts believe, could be the latest KH-14. In September 2007 a transitional model of Key Hole, the KH-12-4, which was a prototype of the KH-13 series, fell to Earth in Peru.

In Russia, the fate of the intelligence satellite program is inseparable from the fate of the national space program. There was a great decline between the late 1990s and early 2000s. By 2005 only one Russian electronic reconnaissance satellite was in orbit, compared with 12 American satellites, surveying Russia's territory.

Currently Russia has almost nothing to match the Big Bird. In November 2006 and August 2007 optical reconnaissance satellites ceased operation.

But Russian officials are not panicking: In late July a Persona optical reconnaissance satellite was placed into orbit. It is a modern intelligence space vehicle, able to transmit images via a radio channel. Russia's Defense Ministry plans to launch two Persona satellites a year, starting in 2009.

Moreover, in late January Vladimir Popovkin, who was in charge of Russia's Space Force at that time, said a new domestic-made satellite will be launched next year to retransmit signals from Russian intelligence space vehicles to ground centers. It will have a lifetime of 12 years, while the satellites currently in service operate for a maximum of three years.

(Andrei Kislyakov is a political commentator for RIA Novosti. This article is reprinted by permission of RIA Novosti. The opinions expressed in this article are the author's and do not necessarily represent those of RIA Novosti.)

(United Press International's "Outside View" commentaries are written by outside contributors who specialize in a variety of important issues. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of United Press International. In the interests of creating an open forum, original submissions are invited.)

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