The Soviet Union's launch of the Sputnik 1 satellite in 1957 caused an international uproar. The satellite was harmless, but thre was significant concern in the United States that the Soviets were gaining a tremendous upper hand in space operations. The advantages of satellites for communications, weather monitoring, and navigation were obvious -- and equally obvious was their utility for spying on enemies. Spy aircraft were well-established, a famouns example being the United States's U-2. As the U-2 eventually demonstrated, however, it was not invulnerable to attack, even at the rarefied altitudes at which it cruised. Satellites, orbiting far above the atmosphere, could observe the enemy with impunity, however, and it was not long before the space-capable countries, at the time the United States and the Soviet Union, were developing ambitious spy satellite programs.

The United States delivered the first of these new contenders in the cold war...