Amateur Astronomer Catches Fleeting Glimpse of Secret Spy Satellite

An avid sky watcher from Austria photographed a top secret spacecraft launched by the Pentagon that’s like no other he’s seen before.

Astrophotographer Felix Schöfbänker used a 14-inch Dobsonian telescope to capture the image of the satellite, which is known as USA 290. He shares his images on AstroBin, an image hosting platform for amateur astronomers.

Unlike other spy satellites he’s photographed before, this one caught Schöfbänker’s attention because it had a different design and follows a unique orbit, he told Space.com. The satellite launched in 2019 on board a Delta IV rocket. It’s described as “a top secret surveillance payload owned by the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO),” according to NASA. USA 290, however, doesn’t look like a KH-11, or the most common model of spy satellites launched by the U.S.

“My image shows a different kind of design, which doesn’t look like a typical KH-11. My image shows a large, roughly 5 meter long rectangular panel,” Schöfbänker told Space.com. The amateur astronomer also noticed that, while most KH-11s are launched into a sun-synchronous orbit, in which a satellite passes over any given spot on Earth at the same local time, USA 290 follows a “strange orbit.”

The image of USA 290 also shows a 16-foot-long panel (5 meters), another feature that’s unique to this particular spy satellite. The structure could be a solar panel, although Schöfbänker noted that it’s fixed to the satellite therefore it would require the entire spacecraft to move to track the Sun. Other possibilities include a radiator to act as a cooling system, or an array antenna for signal intelligence, according to the amateur sky watcher, Space.com reported.

This isn’t Schöfbänker’s first time tracking things in space that were meant to stay classified. Earlier last 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 before it wrapped up its third flight on September 5.