* SatTrackCam Station Leiden * Satellite Tracking Camera

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| Special page: Life and Death of the spy satellite USA 193 |

SatTrackCam

satellite tracking camera station Leiden

Cospar stations 4353 / 4354

NOTE: I am in the process of rewriting this 4-year-old page, in order to have it better reflect the significant technical changes on my satellite observing station over those years. So the content of this page will change over time, and currently is a bit minimal.

For many continuosly updated photographs and observing reports (with backgrounds on the objects observed), see however my observation (B)log here.

The US spy satellite USA 161 (01-044A) was launched in 2001 and is a Keyhole class high resolution
optical imaging satellite. Here it is shown briefly flaring, as one of it's reflective surfaces catches sunlight

SatTrackCam Station Leiden (Cospar 4353)

SatTrackCam Leiden is an amateur observational station in the center of Leiden town, the Netherlands, which employs photographic techniques to determine positions of classified satellites.

The station uses off-the-shelf photographic equipment: a Canon EOS 450D DSLR, used with an EF 50/2.5 Macro lens for satellites in Low Earth Orbit, and an EF 100/2.8 Macro USM lens for high altitude objects (objects in a Molniya orbit).

Positions of the photographed satellite trails with respect to the stars on the images, are astrometrically determined using AstroRecord astrometric software. The camera has been carefully calibrated with regard to it's shutter timing. The shutter is opened manually. Time source is a DCF77 radio-controlled clock.

Observational targets are classified satellites: satellites of which, unlike "normal" satellites, the orbits have not been made available to the public. A small informal groups of amateurs spread over the world, determines these orbits themselves using their own observations.

Amongst the satellite types regularly imaged by SatTrackCam Leiden, are the KH-12 Keyhole optical reconnaissance satellites, the Lacrosse SAR satellites, the NOSS ELINT satellites, SDS communication satellites, Trumpet ELINT satellites, The USA 144 decoy, the Japanese IGS optical and SAR satellites, and several more.

Why do I track these satellites?

Why do I track these satelllites? For the same reason why some people spot birds: because it is fun, and interesting! And that is the most important reason there is to it for me. It gives me something to do in the evening, data to play with, nice pictures to obtain. There is a certain challenge to it. And it is one of few astronomical activities suitable to do for me from my urban, light-polluted environment.

Some people ask me if tracking US military satellites isn't illegal. The answer is: no, not at all. Space is international territory and you are free to document what moves about there (indeed, the US Government publishes tracking data of foreign nation's spacecraft herself on her website Space-Track). In fact, standing UN treaties demand countries with a space program to make the orbits and locations of the spacecraft they launch public and register their spacecraft (United Nations resolution 2222 (XXI). Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies, article XI).

And frankly: it is a bit silly that the orbits of these military objects are "classified". The loose amateur tracking network in which I partake shows that it is very easy to obtain reasonably accurate orbital data for these militairy reconnaissance sats with very modest means. In a sense, we serve as a reality check to the military, pointing out that there are limits to realistic secrecy. They should not expect that nobody knows where their reconnaissance sats are.

Yet I won't complain, as the decision to keep them classified provides me with the fun activity of making positional measurements for amateur orbital determination. It is a challenge, and we trackers have taken up this challenge.

(Note: a good background article on amateur spysat-tracking appeared in the February 2006 issue of Wired Magazine,on-line here, with another nice article from the NY Times here)

Web Resources:

Astrorecord astrometric software plus nececessary update & auxilliary files by Marc de Lignie, Dutch Meteor Society

Obsentry software download by George D Lewis to easily convert data to IOD format lines.

Obsreduce by Ted Molczan, for visual observations using a stopwatch.

Scott Campbell's software for satellite orbital determinations and data analysis

Satellite Hunting software by Stephen Fels for satellite pass predictions including plots of sky tracks.

Quicksat and other software by Mike McCants for satellite pass predictions and brightness predictions

Visual Satellite Observers' Homepage (recommended!)

SeeSat Mailing List homepage

Mike McCant's satellite tracking TLE's page

SSC Space-Track orbit catalogue (needs a login-account).

GlobalSecurity.org pages on military space reconnaissance

The weather at Cospar 4353:

SatTrackCam Station Leiden is operated by Dr Marco Langbroek ( homepage )

First version published 02/08/2005

Last update: 22/09/2009

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