US Launches New Spy Satellites to Track Russian, Chinese Threats

The US Space Force conducted the first launch of a new constellation of early warning satellites designed to track Chinese or Russian spacecraft that could potentially disable or damage orbiting American systems.

The network, dubbed “Silent Barker,” is the latest step in the burgeoning extraterrestrial contest between superpowers. The satellites launched from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida are the first of their kind to complement US ground-based radar and low-earth orbit satellites, according to officials with the Space Force and the National Reconnaissance Office.

The satellites will be placed about 22,000 miles (35,000 kilometers) above Earth and ...