Counting the weapons: Many top secret eyes in the skies keep vigil over Soviet weponry: Just how sharp are they?

When a Titan 34D rocket exploded shortly after launching from Vandenberg Air Force Base in southern California in April, the accident sent chills through the U.S. intelligence community. The classified cargo of the rocket was a reconnaissance satellite; it was the second such failure within nine months. Coming on the heels of the U.S. space shuttle Challenger disaster in January, it meant new surveillance satellites would be grounded for months. Worse yet, only one imaging satellite for intelligence was left in orbit.