OSINT vs. Space Plane
With footage –
An American robotic shuttle known as the X-37B was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on April 22 under a shroud of secrecy. But Mr. Fetter and an ad-hoc team of international satellite watchers tracked it down – or up – when the 36-year-old recorded footage of the craft in orbit early last Thursday morning while working the nightshift at his job.
Mr. Molczan said the sky watchers associated with Heavens-Above have been tracking the plane’s route since Mr. Fetter’s discovery. It is about 410 kilometres up and circles the globe every 90 minutes. On route, it passes over Afghanistan, Pakistan, North Korea and Iraq.
They began searching for the plane after its launch, relying largely on data from Notice To Airmen, or NOTAMs, which are released to inform pilots and mariners about the possibility of falling space debris.
With that information, Mr. Molczan estimated that the X-37B would be orbiting at 33 degrees to the equator, and set his network into motion monitoring the sky at that co-ordinate. But a month ago, he received a mysterious e-mail telling him the orbit was actually 40 degrees, a tip that turned out to be accurate.
-Shlok
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