Amateur astrophotographer claims to have caught US reconnaissance satellites

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Austrian amateur astronomer Felix Schöfbänker says he has captured images of the satellites of the US government's Future Imagery Architecture (FIA) program with his telescope. He uses the images to draw more precise conclusions about the structure and equipment of the five satellites. So far, little is known about the satellites beyond speculation.

The FIA program was launched by the Americans at the end of the 1990s. The aim was to develop a new generation of reconnaissance satellites for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). The agency is responsible for the development and operation of such satellites for the US intelligence services. A total of five suspected satellites from the FIA program are known to have been launched into space from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California between 2010 and 2018. They probably bear the codename "Topaz".

New images show the satellites

According to amateur astronomer Felix Schöfbänker, he has been able to observe these satellites through a telescope in recent months. Schöfbänker has now published images of them on the astrology forum AstroBin. "On May 10, 2024, I observed FIA Radar 4. That was also the first time I ever photographed a spy satellite," Schöfbänker told heise online. Since then, he says he has tracked the satellites a total of 28 times through his 14-inch Dobsonian telescope.

To be more precise, Schöfbänker has taken images of the satellites USA 215, presumably FIA Radar 1, USA 247, presumably FIA Radar 3, USA 267, presumably FIA Radar 4 and USA 281, presumably FIA Radar 5.

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Nothing is known about the exact equipment of the satellites, but in all probability they have a so-called Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) on board, which is used to generate images using radar sensors. In a nutshell, the SAR sends energy to Earth and generates the image based on the energy that is reflected back from Earth. This method offers the advantage of being able to take images at night or through clouds. The quality of the images is similar to that of optical sensors.

Conclusions about satellite equipment

From his images, Schöfbänker concludes that the satellites have a parabolic antenna with a diameter of almost 12 meters, according to a report on Space.com. According to the report, they probably have two solar panels with a span of just under ten meters. There is another bright object between the solar panels, which he interprets as an uplink and downlink antenna. However, it could also be something else, he clarifies.

Just as secret as their equipment – and, strictly speaking, their existence – is, of course, the exact course and orbit of the FIA satellites. Schöfbänker makes it clear from other observations made by the amateur community that these are satellites at all. "These 'secret' satellites are tracked by a group of amateur satellite observers and their orbits are published," he told Heise. "So I can plan in advance which satellite I want to photograph and when, so I know which one I've photographed," explains the amateur astronomer.

FIA program was a huge debacle for the USA

However, none of this can be officially confirmed. The FIA program only really came to light between 2005 and 2007, when it turned out to be a huge debacle after Boeing had been working on the development of the satellites since 1999. A cost explosion caused the initial budget of five billion to grow to an actual cost of 25 billion US dollars.

The development of the optical component was discontinued in 2005. The New York Times described FIA as the "most expensive and spectacular" failure in the history of US spy satellites.

(mki)