Delta 4-Heavy's hush-hush payload found and identified

Spaceflight Now ^ | 1/24/2010 | Justin Ray

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

The clandestine cargo carried into polar orbit Thursday aboard the first California-launched Delta 4-Heavy rocket was a crucial replacement satellite for the nation's surveillance and security network, amateur sky-watchers say.The sophisticated imaging bird follows a long line of Keyhole-type spacecraft that provide ultra-high resolution imagery for the U.S. intelligence community, according to hobbyists who track orbiting satellites with remarkable precision.

Ever since the Delta 4-Heavy rocket fired away from Space Launch Complex 6 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, the amateur observers have been hunting for the new satellite to figure out its identity. The conventional wisdom before the launch said the payload would fly into the Keyhole satellite constellation, and observations from the past few days proved the guess correct.

[Jet Jaguar]

Ping

[pointsal]

watch the bird take flight from Harris Grade....Anhyone else on site?

[pointsal]

watch the bird take flight from Harris Grade....Anhyone else on site?

[B4Ranch]

[Mariner]

They put up one very big bird.

Don't be surprised if it's trajectory takes it over Iran/PAK several times a day.

[piasa]

Keyhole-type sats and Hillary Clinton emails:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3323628/posts?page=1

[piasa]

bump