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I always imagined spy satellites in a 'string of pearls' kind of configuration. Rather than having 1 in some specific orbit, have 4 or more in the same orbit. y

by jfoutz 9y ago

I always imagined spy satellites in a 'string of pearls' kind of configuration. Rather than having 1 in some specific orbit, have 4 or more in the same orbit. your 90 minute return time gets cut to ~20 minutes or less. Obviously, i have no information either way.

nradov 9y ago
There's no need to imagine. The quantity and orbits of spy satellites are public knowledge since there's no way to hide anything in space. The exact capabilities of each satellite are classified but but we can guess how good their sensors are just based on physics. Currently it costs so much to build and launch a spy satellite that we can't afford to put a bunch of them strung out in a single orbit, but maybe that will become practical eventually as launch costs decline.
- knz 9y ago
  > The quantity and orbits of spy satellites are public knowledge since there's no way to hide anything in space. The "Misty" satellites came up on HN last week related to the SpaceX launch and failure. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misty_(satellite) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misty_(satellite) http://www.armaghplanet.com/blog/the-real-mystery-satellites.html http://www.armaghplanet.com/blog/the-real-mystery-satellites... "A week after launch, reports were released from the Soviets that six bits of debris had been detected suggesting an explosion had occurred. The Pentagon announced that any debris would decay after six weeks. The amateur astronomers and observers that were tracking this object only catalogued five out of the six pieces. Six months later an unidentified satellite was discovered in orbit on a similar trajectory to that of the classified payload was released, leading the satellite spotters to suspect it was the missing piece, nick-named Misty. However a couple of noticeable manoeuvres later, Misty disappeared again. Perhaps the ‘explosion’ was a decoy to put Misty into place unbeknownst to the Russians."
robszumski 9y ago
Planet is doing this with many satellites today. They are much smaller than DoD projects so it's much cheaper. Here's a diagram of their style orbit: https://www.planet.com/docs/spec-sheets/spacecraft-ops/monitoring.jpg https://www.planet.com/docs/spec-sheets/spacecraft-ops/monit...
- kahnpro 9y ago
  404'd

by jfoutz 9y ago

nradov 9y ago

There's no need to imagine. The quantity and orbits of spy satellites are public knowledge since there's no way to hide anything in space. The exact capabilities of each satellite are classified but but we can guess how good their sensors are just based on physics. Currently it costs so much to build and launch a spy satellite that we can't afford to put a bunch of them strung out in a single orbit, but maybe that will become practical eventually as launch costs decline.

knz 9y ago
> The quantity and orbits of spy satellites are public knowledge since there's no way to hide anything in space. The "Misty" satellites came up on HN last week related to the SpaceX launch and failure. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misty_(satellite) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misty_(satellite) http://www.armaghplanet.com/blog/the-real-mystery-satellites.html http://www.armaghplanet.com/blog/the-real-mystery-satellites... "A week after launch, reports were released from the Soviets that six bits of debris had been detected suggesting an explosion had occurred. The Pentagon announced that any debris would decay after six weeks. The amateur astronomers and observers that were tracking this object only catalogued five out of the six pieces. Six months later an unidentified satellite was discovered in orbit on a similar trajectory to that of the classified payload was released, leading the satellite spotters to suspect it was the missing piece, nick-named Misty. However a couple of noticeable manoeuvres later, Misty disappeared again. Perhaps the ‘explosion’ was a decoy to put Misty into place unbeknownst to the Russians."

robszumski 9y ago

Planet is doing this with many satellites today. They are much smaller than DoD projects so it's much cheaper. Here's a diagram of their style orbit: https://www.planet.com/docs/spec-sheets/spacecraft-ops/monitoring.jpg https://www.planet.com/docs/spec-sheets/spacecraft-ops/monit...

kahnpro 9y ago
404'd