SPACE
In the hush-hush, secretive world of space-based spy satellites, few details are publicly available — and groups like the U.S. Space Force, National Reconnaissance Office, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency like it that way.
There’s an armada of classified spacecraft assigned an array of vigilant duties. Some intercept radio waves or detect missile launches. Others yield close-up looks at select areas using sharp-eyed optical systems or scan Earth with powerful radar technology.
These high-flying satellites are tempting targets for amateur astrophotographers. Such is the case for space watcher veteran Felix Schöfbänker in Upper Austria. “My images have certainly revealed a few things that either were not known, or only were speculated before,” Schöfbänker tells Space.com.
In the past few months Schöfbänker has caught some classified spy satellites with his 14″ Dobsonian telescope, optimized for satellite tracking and imaging from his home. Poring over imagery, he is sharing his results and what those images suggest.
Coming into focus for Schöfbänker, for example, has been a new generation of optical and radar imaging U.S. reconnaissance satellites, hurled into space for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), which designs, launches and operates spy satellites on behalf of the U.S. federal government.
Caught on camera
The (Future Imagery Architecture) FIA-Radars, also called Topaz, are five US spy satellites that carry a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) for imaging. This technology can see through clouds and works night and day. They are the successors to the Lacrosse/Onyx series of SAR satellites.
“From my images I conclude that these satellites have a parabolic mesh antenna which is roughly 12 meters [39 feet] in diameter, and 2 solar panels with roughly 10 meters [33 feet] of wingspan,” Schöfbänker points out.
“There also is another bright object between the solar panels that I interpret as an up- and downlink antenna, though this also might be something else,” he added.
