article_snippet.sent: A Russian aerospace commander refused to comment on how many such satellites there were, and which countries were operating how many such satellites.
article_snippet.sent: It suggests there could be more satellites than thought monitoring different countries on Earth.
article_snippet.sent: Oleg Maidanovich was speaking on a film called ‘Space Special Forces’ during a tour of Russia’s main centre for aerospace intelligence in Krasnoznamensk, near Moscow.
article_snippet.sent: Very recently, specialists of the department of space intelligence centre uncovered a newly created group of space satellites... made for radio-technical reconnaissance of equipment on Russian territory,’ Oleg Maidanovich said.
article_snippet.sent: A reconnaissance satellite is unofficially referred to as a spy satellite.
article_snippet.sent: specialists of the department of space intelligence centre are Earth observation satellites or communications satellites traditionally used for military or intelligence purposes.
article_snippet.sent: Some are used to simply take images from the ground, while others relay information from one place to another.
article_snippet.sent: Many such satellites are used today for high-resolution photography of certain areas, for scientific or defense purposes.
article_snippet.sent: Since then hundreds of rockets have been launched into space – and Russia now has about 140 satellites operating in orbit.
article_snippet.sent: hundreds of rockets Space Command is a division of the military responsible for warning of missile and air strikes and controlling Russia's defence satellites.
article_snippet.sent: Their Space Command monitors about 20,000 objects orbiting the planet, out of a total of 100,000 significant objects.
article_snippet.sent: Since then hundreds of rockets have been launched into space - and Russia now has about 140 satellites operating in orbit .