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that's a weirdly specific shuttle refueling point, dingaling. satellite servicing of any kind was very rarely attempted much less regular refueling. We can and do change orbits using onboard fuel without ever refueling - sure it's limited. Saying the shuttles supported refueling and hence maneuvering spy satellites are no longer a thing is very far from reality.


1. The Space Shuttle flew a large number of lengthy, classified missions.

2. The Space Shuttle suffered from many costly design compromises due to its excessively large hangar bay.

Given #1 and #2, there are four likely kinds of classified missions that the Space Shuttle undertook.

1. Stealing Russian military satellites.

2. Returning American military satellites to Earth.

3. Launching American military satellites into unpredictable orbits.

4. Refueling American military satellites, which allowed them to change to a new, unpredictable orbit.

It's entirely possible that the Space Shuttle only engaged in some of these tasks... But it's difficult to conclude that given the very odd design of the space shuttle, and the very lengthy missions that it undertook, that no satellite servicing/orbital shenanigans took place.

Yes, satellites can change orbits using on-board fuel reserves, but due to the tyranny of the rocket equation, those reserves are limited - and are unlikely to allow a very large inclination change (Inclination changes are incredibly fuel-expensive.)


The Space Shuttle certainly didn't steal any Soviet satellites. The Soviets had radar too. It's physically impossible to do anything like that in space without getting caught. Furthermore the Shuttle couldn't get higher than LEO so many satellites were simply out of its range.

Likewise there is no such thing as an unpredictable orbit. Orbits are predictable, by definition. Any country with a good set of radars, telescopes, and IR sensors can find the exact orbit of every single satellite.

The Space Shuttle was certainly used for launching American military satellites into regular predictable orbits. They might have done a refueling mission at some point as a proof-of-concept but even that seems unlikely considering that it's always cheaper to just build and launch a new satellite.


The shuttle did not fly a large number of missions to begin with... It was so unreliable (fatal accidents every fifty launches!) that it never had a chance. The SpaceX model of reusability looks a lot more likely to deliver.

If SpaceX succeeds at lowering launch costs then it would be easier to launch many small and disposable spy satellites than ever to bother refueling one.

Nonetheless, the point is that satellites are limited as to opportunities due to limited availability and limited time windows. This does argue that there ought to be a role for an SR-71. I'm not sure there's much of a role for an SR-72, but certainly for the SR-71 there ought to be.




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