44 Military satellites

A military satellite is an artificial satellite used for a military purpose. The most common missions are intelligence gathering, navigation and military communications.

Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) is a constellation of communications satellites operated by the United States Space Force. They are used to relay secure communications for the United States Armed Forces, the British Armed Forces, the Canadian Armed Forces, the Netherlands Armed Forces and the Australian Defence Force. The system consists of six satellites in geostationary orbits. The final satellite was launched on 26 March 2020. AEHF is backward compatible with, and replaces, the older Milstar system and will operate at 44 GHz uplink and 20 GHz downlink. The AEHF system is a joint service communications system that provides survivable, global, secure, protected, and jam-resistant communications for high-priority military ground, sea and air assets.

Brik-II is a first satellite of the Royal Netherlands Air Force. On 30 November 2017 C-LSK Dennis Luyt signed a contract with ISISpace, NLR and TU Delft. The nanosatellite is designed to provide the Royal Netherlands Air Force with intelligence regarding navigation, communication and observation of the Earth. The satellite was launched on 30 June 2021 by Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne.

The Defense Support Program (DSP) is a program of the United States Space Force that operated the reconnaissance satellites which form the principal component of the Satellite Early Warning System used by the United States.

EWS-G1 is a weather satellite of the U.S. Space Force, formerly GOES-13 and part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite system. On 14 April 2010, GOES-13 became the operational weather satellite for GOES-East. It was replaced by GOES-16 on 18 December 2017 and on 8 January 2018 its instruments were shut off and it began its three-week drift to an on-orbit storage location at 60.0° West longitude, arriving on 31 January 2018. It remained there as a backup satellite in case one of the operational GOES satellites had a problem until early July 2019, when it started to drift westward and was being transferred to the U.S. Air Force, and then the U.S. Space Force.

The Missile Defense Alarm System, or MIDAS, was a United States Air Force Air Defense Command system of 12 early-warning satellites that provided limited notice of Soviet intercontinental ballistic missile launches between 1960 and 1966. Originally intended to serve as a complete early-warning system working in conjunction with the Ballistic Missile Early Warning System, cost and reliability concerns limited the project to a research and development role. Three of the system's 12 launches ended in failure, and the remaining nine satellites provided crude infrared early-warning coverage of the Soviet Union until the project was replaced by the Defense Support Program. MiDAS represented one element of the United States's first generation of reconnaissance satellites that also included the Corona and SAMOS series. Though MIDAS failed in its primary role as a system of infrared early-warning satellites, it pioneered the technologies needed in successor systems.

Nour Satellite callsign "NOUR 01", is an Iranian military satellite, which was launched in orbit on 22 April 2020. According to Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the launch of Nour satellite was done from the central desert of Iran; it also mentioned that this satellite had reached an orbit of 425 kilometers above the surface of the Earth.

Orbiting Vehicle 1-1, was the first satellite in the OV1 series of the United States Air Force's Orbiting Vehicle program. OV1-1 was an American Earth science research satellite designed to measure radiation, micrometeoroid density, and magnetic fields in orbit. Launched 21 January 1965, the mission resulted in failure when, after a successful launch of its Atlas booster, OV1-1's onboard Altair motor failed to fire.

Orbiting Vehicle 1-2, launched 5 October 1965, was the third, and first successful, satellite in the OV1 series of the United States Air Force's Orbiting Vehicle program. A radiation measuring satellite designed to conduct research for the planned Manned Orbital Laboratory project, OV1-2 was the first American spacecraft to be placed into orbit on a western trajectory. The satellite stopped functioning in April 1967 after a series of technical problems starting two months after launch.

Orbiting Vehicle 1-3, was the second satellite in the OV1 series of the United States Air Force's Orbiting Vehicle program. OV1-3 was an American life science research satellite designed to measure the effects of orbital radiation on the human body. Launched 28 May 1965, the mission resulted in failure when its Atlas booster exploded two minutes after launch.

Orbiting Vehicle 1-4, launched 30 Mar 1966, was the fourth, and second successful, satellite in the OV1 series of the United States Air Force's Orbiting Vehicle program. OV1-4 was a long-term bioscience and materials science satellite, designed to return data relevant to long-term human presence in space. Its launch marked the first time two satellites were placed into orbit side-by-side with each other.

Orbiting Vehicle 1-5 was launched 30 Mar 1966, and was the fifth satellite in the OV1 series of the United States Air Force's Orbiting Vehicle program. OV1-5 conducted optical experiments, surveying the Earth in the infrared spectrum to see if water, land, mountains and deserts could be distinguished by their thermal gradients. It was launched concurrently with OV1-4 in the first ever side-by-side satellite orbital deployment.

Orbiting Vehicle 1-6 was launched via Titan IIIC rocket into orbit 2 November 1966 along with two other satellites in the United States Air Force's Orbiting Vehicle series on the first and only Manned Orbiting Laboratory test flight. The eighth satellite in the OV1 series to be launched, OV1-6 was designed to release a number of inflatable spheres, which would then be used in classified tracking experiments conducted on the ground. It is uncertain whether or not the satellite successfully released any of its spheres. OV1-6 reentered the Earth's atmosphere on 31 December 1966.

Orbiting Vehicle 1-7, launched 14 July 1966, was the sixth satellite launched in the OV1 series of the United States Air Force's Orbiting Vehicle program. OV1-7 was a sky science satellite, designed to return data on charged particles in orbit as well as measurements of solar X-rays and nightglow. Co-launched with OV1-8, the satellite was lost when it failed to detach from its launch rocket.

Orbiting Vehicle 1-8, launched 14 July 1966, was the seventh satellite launched in the OV1 series of the United States Air Force's Orbiting Vehicle program. OV1-8 was designed to test the passive communications utility of an aluminum grid sphere versus a balloon satellite.

Project SAINT was a project undertaken by the United States during the Cold War to develop a means of intercepting, inspecting and destroying Soviet spacecraft. Many details relating to the project are still classified. The order to launch the SAINT could only be given by the NORAD commander-in-chief, and presumably, anyone higher ranked than them.

The SAMOS or SAMOS-E program was a relatively short-lived series of reconnaissance satellites for the United States in the early 1960s, also used as a cover for the initial development of the KH-7 GAMBIT system. Reconnaissance was performed with film cameras and television surveillance from polar low Earth orbits with film canister returns and transmittals over the United States. SAMOS was first launched in 1960 from Vandenberg Air Force Base.

The Satellite Data System (SDS) is a system of United States military communications satellites. At least three generations have been used: SDS-1 from 1976 to 1987; SDS-2 from 1989 to 1996; SDS-3 from 1998 to the present. It is believed that these satellites were known by the code name Quasar. The first generation were named simply 'SDS', the second generation were named 'Quasar' and the third generation each carried their own designation names.

Skynet is a family of military communications satellites, now operated by Airbus Defence and Space on behalf of the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence (MoD). They provide strategic and tactical communication services to the branches of the British Armed Forces, the British intelligence agencies, some UK government departments and agencies, and to allied governments. Since 2015 when Skynet coverage was extended eastward, and in conjunction with an Anik G1 satellite module over America, Skynet offers near global coverage.

Skynet 5A is the first in a series of new-generation Skynet military communications satellites, used by the British Ministry of Defence. It was launched aboard an Ariane 5 carrier rocket at 22:03 GMT on 11 March 2007.

Skynet 5B is a military communications satellite operated by Astrium Services, formerly Paradigm Secure Communications, on behalf of the British Ministry of Defence. It was the second of four Skynet 5 satellites to be launched.

Skynet 5C is the third of four Skynet 5 military communications satellites to be used by the British Ministry of Defence (MOD).

Skynet 5D is a military communications satellite operated by Airbus Defence and Space on behalf of the British Ministry of Defence. It was the last of four Skynet 5 satellites to be launched.

The Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS) is a United States Space Force system intended to meet the United States' infrared space surveillance needs through the first two to three decades of the 21st century. The SBIRS program is designed to provide key capabilities in the areas of missile warning, missile defense and battlespace characterization via satellites in geosynchronous Earth orbit (GEO), sensors hosted on satellites in highly elliptical orbit (HEO), and ground-based data processing and control.

USA-195, or Wideband Global SATCOM 1 (WGS-1) is an United States military communications satellite operated by the United States Air Force as part of the Wideband Global SATCOM programme. Launched in 2007, it was the first WGS satellite to reach orbit. It is stationed at a longitude of 174.8° East.

USA-204, or Wideband Global SATCOM 2 (WGS-2) is an United States military communications satellite which is operated by the United States Air Force as part of the Wideband Global SATCOM programme. Launched in 2009, it was the second WGS satellite to reach orbit, and operates in geostationary orbit at a longitude of 60° East.

USA-211, or Wideband Global SATCOM 3 (WGS-3) is an United States military communications satellite operated by the United States Air Force as part of the Wideband Global SATCOM programme. Launched in 2009, it was the third WGS satellite, and final Block I satellite, to reach orbit. It is stationed at 12° West in geostationary orbit.

USA-233, or Wideband Global SATCOM 4 (WGS-4) is an United States military communications satellite operated by the United States Air Force as part of the Wideband Global SATCOM programme, which was launched in 2012. The fourth Wideband Global SATCOM satellite, it is the first WGS Block II satellite to be launched. It is stationed at 88.5° East in geostationary orbit.

USA-243, also known as WGS-5, is an United States military communications satellite. It was the fifth satellite to be launched as part of the Wideband Global SATCOM program, and the second Block II satellite.

USA-244, or Wideband Global SATCOM 6 (WGS-6) is an United States military communications satellite operated by the United States Air Force as part of the Wideband Global SATCOM programme. Launched in 2013, it was the sixth WGS satellite to reach orbit. It is stationed at a longitude of 135° West, in geostationary orbit. WGS-6 was procured by the Australian Defence Force for the U.S. Air Force, in exchange for participation in the programme.

The Wideband Global SATCOM system (WGS) is a high capacity United States Space Force satellite communications system planned for use in partnership by the United States Department of Defense (DoD), Canadian Department of National Defence (DND) and the Australian Department of Defence. The system is composed of the Space Segment satellites, the Terminal Segment users and the Control Segment operators.