Military Satellites

Military satellites provide a wide range of services including communication services, intelligence gathering, weather forecasting, early warning, providing navigation information and timing data and so on. This chapter presents an overview of military satellites. It describes the various types of military satellites. The chapter also describes the salient features and current status of major international military satellite systems in each of the categories. Protected satellite systems serve the nuclear capable forces. Defence Satellite Communication Systems, DSCS satellites are US military communication satellites providing high security data and voice communication services to the US Department of Defense (DOD). The Globus series of satellites represent second generation of Russian military communication satellites, replacing older Raduga satellites. MILSTAR (Military Strategic and Tactical Relay) is a tactical and strategic multiservice satellite system designed to provide survivable communication services for US forces worldwide.