Amateur astronomer accidentally catches spy satellite in action

A secret spy satellite has been pinpointed by amateur space watcher – but no one knows exactly what it’s up to, reports Sky News.

The satellite was launched last week from Cape Canaveral, riding on the world’s largest rockets, but no one knows what it was carrying or where it was heading, as the launch’s live feed was cut after a few minutes due to the payload’s secrecy.

That was until the satellite was spotted by an Australian astronomer, who spotted the US National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) satellite over the Strait of Malacca, a stretch between the Malaysian Peninsula and the Indonesian Island of Sumatra.

This was picked up by Dutch satellite tracker Marco Langbroek, who helped guide amateur astronomer Paul Camilleri toward the discovery.

It is likely that in this position it is initially well placed for the Pine Gap Joint Defence Facility ground station in central Australia during the initial check-out phase.

There has been speculation that it is a Mentor satellite, which picks up electronic signals from ships, aircraft, ground stations and other satellites.

The signals are processed on board the Mentor satellites, and encrypted before being sent back to authorities in the US.