Poland, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia were satellite *states* of the Soviet Union, meaning that even though they were technically independent nations, in point of fact they were just puppet governments run by the Soviet Union. Romania, Yugoslavia, Albania Bulgaria, and German Democratic Republic (East Germany) were also Soviet satellite states. Just nations under heavy influence of another nation, usually by economics or military power.
Yugoslavia and Albania managed to get out from beneath the Soviets in 1948 and 1960 respectively.
This does *not* refer to an orbiting satellite.
The countries beneath the Soviet thumb were known as the Eastern Bloc, and all together with the USSR, formed the military Warsaw Pact (NATO's aggressor).