An avid sky watcher from Austria photographed a prime secret spacecraft launched by the Pentagon that’s like no different he’s seen earlier than.
Astrophotographer Felix Schöfbänker used a 14-inch Dobsonian telescope to seize the picture of the satellite tv for pc, which is named USA 290. He shares his pictures on AstroBin, a picture internet hosting platform for novice astronomers.
In contrast to different spy satellites he’s photographed earlier than, this one caught Schöfbänker’s consideration as a result of it had a unique design and follows a novel orbit, he told House.com. The satellite tv for pc launched in 2019 on board a Delta IV rocket. It’s described as “a prime secret surveillance payload owned by the Nationwide Reconnaissance Workplace (NRO),” in accordance with NASA. USA 290, nevertheless, doesn’t appear like a KH-11, or the most typical mannequin of spy satellites launched by the U.S.
“My picture exhibits a unique form of design, which doesn’t appear like a typical KH-11. My picture exhibits a big, roughly 5 meter lengthy rectangular panel,” Schöfbänker advised House.com. The novice astronomer additionally observed that, whereas most KH-11s are launched right into a sun-synchronous orbit, through which a satellite tv for pc passes over any given spot on Earth on the similar native time, USA 290 follows a “unusual orbit.”
The picture of USA 290 additionally exhibits a 16-foot-long panel (5 meters), one other function that’s distinctive to this explicit spy satellite tv for pc. The construction may very well be a photo voltaic panel, though Schöfbänker famous that it’s fastened to the satellite tv for pc due to this fact it could require your entire spacecraft to maneuver to trace the Solar. Different potentialities embrace a radiator to behave as a cooling system, or an array antenna for sign intelligence, in accordance with the novice sky watcher, House.com reported.
This isn’t Schöfbänker’s first time monitoring issues in area that have been meant to remain labeled. Earlier final month, the astrophotographer caught a rare glimpse of China’s top secret spaceplane in orbit. The reusable spacecraft launched on December 14, 2023 on a secretive mission that lasted for 268 days earlier than it wrapped up its third flight on September 5.
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