An avid skywatcher from Austria filmed the launch of a top-secret Pentagon spacecraft that was in contrast to every other he had ever seen earlier than.
Astrophotographer Felix Schöfbänker captured this picture of the satellite tv for pc, referred to as USA 290, utilizing a 14-inch Dobsonian telescope.
He instructed Area.com that in contrast to different spy satellites he had photographed earlier than, this one caught Schöfbänker’s consideration as a result of it had a distinct design and adopted a novel orbit. The satellite tv for pc was launched in 2019 on a Delta IV rocket. It’s described as a “top-secret surveillance payload owned by the Nationwide Reconnaissance Workplace (NRO),” in keeping with NASA. Nonetheless, USA 290 doesn’t seem like the KH-11, nor the commonest mannequin of spy satellite tv for pc launched by the USA
“My photographs present a distinct design that does not seem like the standard KH-11. My photographs present a big rectangular panel about 5 meters lengthy,” Schöfbänker instructed Area.com. The beginner astronomer additionally seen that whereas most KH-11 was launched right into a sun-synchronous orbit, the place the satellite tv for pc passes any given level on Earth on the similar time native time, USA 290 adopted a “bizarre orbit.”
The USA 290 picture additionally exhibits a 16-foot-long (5-meter) panel, one other function distinctive to this specific spy satellite tv for pc. The construction may very well be a photo voltaic panel, though Scheffbank famous that it’s fastened to the satellite tv for pc, requiring your complete spacecraft to maneuver to trace the solar. Novice sky watchers mentioned different potentialities embody use as a radiator for a cooling system, or an array of antennas for indicators intelligence, Area.com reported.
This is not the primary time Schöfbänker has tracked a supposedly secret object in house. Earlier final month, the astrophotographer acquired a uncommon glimpse of China’s top-secret house shuttle in orbit. The reusable spacecraft was launched on December 14, 2023, and carried out a secret mission for 268 days, ending its third flight on September 5.
