Classified Satellites on 8-May-2025 | Astrobiscuit | Page 1

hallow crag May 9, 2025, 2:51 PM

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Some classified satellites that I imaged last night.

USA 426:
A payload satellite, either for scientific or for technological missions.

Starshield:
A classified version of Starlink that provide military space capabilities to the US and allied governments.

IGS-Optical 6:
A third generation Japanese reconnaissance satellite that serves Japan's national defence and civil natural disaster monitoring.

IGS 8A:
A Japanese radar reconnaissance satellite (second generation) that also serves Japan's national defence and disaster monitoring.

12" Dob, 3x Barlow, 610nm longpass, Uranus-M at 4900mm f/16

sage jolt May 9, 2025, 5:29 PM

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Excellent work, your capabilities here will be exceptionally useful when astronomers rise up in the upcoming satellite wars.

silver mesa May 9, 2025, 9:33 PM

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Is this manually tracked?

gritty walrus May 9, 2025, 9:41 PM

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Possibly one of the craziest things ive seen, wow

hallow crag May 10, 2025, 9:11 AM

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silver mesa Is this manually tracked?

No, that would be very hard for some of these satellites as they can be quite dim. They’re tracked, and manually guided with an e-finder.

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Manual tracking would be possible for some of them, but hard, visually guided but tracked same story. Manual guiding with an e-finder and tracking is the best way to image these.

#Classified Satellites on 8-May-2025