This article traces the history of US and Soviet reconnaissance satellites during the Cold War. It fills the gap in historiography of the Space Race that has inadequately studied military space programs and focused largely on civilian spaceflight, with the Apollo Moon landings being a prime example. It argues that the military satellites employed by both the US and Soviets offered unprecedented amounts of information on the other side and eliminated the issue of lacking intelligence that characterized the early Cold War. This in turn allowed for a more peaceful coexistence between these two ideologically opposed superpowers. Spy satellites allowed for a better assessment of the other side’s military strength, created a system of early warning for nuclear attacks, and offered a non-invasive way of verifying arms control treaties. These reconnaissance satellites and their successors play this important role up to this day.
