Security satellite
A security satellite or recon satellite was a type of artificial satellite. As part of a Vulcan orbital security grid, they were employed to monitor the atmosphere of  for any breaches to the planet's surface. Each of these recon satellites had an imaging node, linked to a central processor. Recon satellites near Vulcan's Forge often malfunctioned.

In 2154, Soval helped  to sabotage a particular recon satellite near Vulcan's Forge, in order for a  from Enterprise to covertly traverse the security grid. He planned to trigger a malfunction in the satellite's imaging node, an error which would take the connected central processor six minutes to correct. Soval suspected the sabotage wouldn't raise suspicion, due to the commonality of malfunctions near Vulcan's Forge, and the shuttlepod indeed managed to slip through the net. However, the jamming of the satellite was noticed by Administrator V'Las of the Vulcan High Command and Soval later admitted he had given Starfleet the code to disable the satellite. ()

See also 
 Spy satellite

Spacecraft classifications