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Whose Satellites Are Spying on Russia?
Russia is not happy; they have found a group of electronic reconnaissance satellites that have been disguised as space junk.
They believe the satellites were put into orbit to spy on facilities in Russian territory.
“Most recently, experts of the Main Space Intelligence Center (MSIC) disclosed a tyro group of electronic reconnaissance satellites. This satellite constellation is being developed to carry out communications surveillance of the facilities based inside Russian Federation territory,” the commander of the Space Command, Major-General Oleg Maidanovich, told the Zvezda TV channel.
Behind Russia’s space shield:
MSIC is a section of the Russian military that is in charge of missile and airstrike warnings, as well as controlling the country’s defense satellites. They also monitor space debris to prevent collisions, gather intelligence, identify new space objects, and monitor deorbiting space vehicles, according to RT.
Inside a Russian spy station:
The commander went on to say “that it was common practice to disguise spy satellites as space debris, defunct satellites, rocket stages, and other fragments of technology sent up into space that still orbit the Earth. Such satellites can remain inactive in orbit for years before turning on, or ‘waking up.’”
MSIC’s “eyes” are laser-optic and optronic space tracking systems. They are deployed in several regions of Russia, from Moscow to the Pacific region. There is also “Okno,” an optical tracking facility complex situated in the mountains of central Tajikistan. Okno is capable of monitoring objects as far as 25,000 miles into space.
Video showing Okno:
Maidanovich has refused to name which country or countries the satellites belong to because “there is currently no necessity to do so.” He also said that when Space Command finds a spy satellite, the information is taken to the country’s leadership, and a decision is made on an international level. He said there are no plans to destroy any satellite discovered, HNGN said on their website.
Russia’s aerospace defense forces monitor about 20,000 objects orbiting the planet, out of about 100,000, every day because it believes the objects could serve a military purpose, according to The Moscow Times.
It will be interesting to see if Russia brings this up with the country or countries they believe the satellites belong to.
www.visiontimes.com
Source: http://www.visiontimes.com/2015/04/15/whose-satellites-are-spying-on-russia.html
