Spy sats now spy on other spy satellites

William Atkins
Saturday, 31 January 2009 22:08

Science - Space

Since the launch of MiTEx, there have been concerns as to the “real” mission of these two secretive satellites.

According to SpaceNews.com article Critics Worry There May Be More to MiTEx than Meets the Eye, “A June 21 news report on the Web site SpaceFlightNow.com indicates that each satellite weighed about 450 kilograms, and a Boeing fact sheet states that the Delta 2 configuration used for the launch has a capacity to put 1,759 kilograms into geo-transfer orbit, indicating that 1,300 kilograms remained to account for the upper stage as well as hardware for deploying the microsatellites, according to Ryan Caron, a research assistant at the center."

"Upper stages used to carry payloads from geostationary transfer orbit generally weigh about the same as their payloads, he said.”

The July 5, 2006 article continues, “This could mean that the Delta 2 was carrying an additional small spacecraft that the military did not disclose, Hitchens said."

"Alternatively, the upper stage could be carrying much more fuel than is necessary to boost the small satellites in a geostationary orbit, Hitchens said. This could be used to enable the upper stage to move quickly into another location to enable the micro-satellites to stealthily inspect the military's own satellites, spy on those of an enemy, or attack an enemy spacecraft, she said.”

The New Scientist article “U.S. play ‘I spy a broken sat’” states that the DoD admitted that these two satellites have the ability to move around in its geostationary orbit. [New Scientist, January 24-30, 2009, page 21]

So far they have inspected DSP23, which is a satellite that quit working about one year after it was placed in orbit on November 2007. Its original mission was to image “clandestine” missile launches and nuclear tests of foreign countries. [New Scientist]

The DSP-23 satellite is described as a “missile detection” satellite.

Page four discusses a concern made by a spokesperson for the U.N.'s Institute for Disarmament Research.