“Silent Barker”, the not-so-secret mission of the US spy satellite agency

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The US National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) doesn't typically talk about any of its missions, but in a rare exception to these precedents, the spy satellite agency took a different tack with its upcoming launch. planned for Tuesday from Cape Canaveral, Florida: the “ Silent Barker ” mission or NROL-107.

Due to the presence of Tropical Storm Idalia , which is expected to hit the Florida Gulf Coast this week, the “ Atlas V ” rocket that would be used for takeoff returned to its hangar at the Cape Canaveral Space Station to take shelter. And the lau Phone Number List nch is likely to be postponed until sometime around Labor Day weekend in the United States, which falls on the first Monday in September.

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“We are trying to be more transparent and share more information,” Chris Scolese, director of the NRO, said in a roundtable with journalists on Monday. As more countries and companies launch missions into space, Scolese stressed that the space environment is increasingly congested, contested and competitive.

“It's also easier to observe what's going on up there. “We want people to know, to some extent, what our capabilities are,” Scolese stated.

What the “Silent Barker” mission is looking for
The NRO has multiple satellites, although those responsible do not specify how many, mounted on a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket for takeoff from the Cape Canaveral Space Station. Its destination is the geosynchronous orbit, specifically the geostationary orbit, a belt of satellites located more than 22,000 miles (about 36,000 kilometers) above the equator,

In geosynchronous orbit, a spacecraft completes one revolution around the Earth at the same rate as the planet's rotation, providing the satellite with a constant view of the same geographic region. That makes it a popular location for communications satellites, weather observatories and platforms that detect the first sign of a missile attack.

The US Space Force and NRO have numerous satellites in geosynchronous orbit, and the mission set to take off soon will help track possible threats to these multi-billion dollar assets.

“Geosynchronous orbit is very far away,” Scolese noted. “Earth systems have more difficulty perceiving what is up there. This gives us the ability to be in this same orbit, so we get closer to what is happening in that area. "It will not be focusing on the Earth, but on space."

This new mission, officially called NROL-107 , also has a clever code name, “ Silent Barker ,” and a striking patch, the emblem worn by the astronauts and the people affiliated with it, which is not unusual for NRO spy satellite launches.

The NRO and the Space Force collaborate on this mission. The NRO was in charge of the development of the satellites and will operate them once they are in orbit, while the Space Force will be responsible for the launch on the ULA's Atlas V rocket.



The Silent Barker satellites will continuously detect and track other objects in geosynchronous orbit, a feature that military leaders have prioritized over the past decade. In that period, Pentagon officials highlight that there has been an escalation in the “cat and mouse” games between US satellites and those operated by China and Russia.

Some US officials have pointed out several cases of Russian inspection satellites approaching US spy satellites flying in low Earth orbit. Higher up in geosynchronous orbit, another mysterious Russian military satellite has loitered near numerous commercial communications vehicles and a Franco-Italian military spacecraft, raising concerns that it may be attempting to intercept radio signals.

The United States military already has its own satellites capable of approaching other objects in geosynchronous orbit. These satellites, which are part of the Space Force's Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program (GSSAP), participated in an orbital “dance” with two Chinese military peers last year.

The US military sent one of the GSSAP satellites to take a closer look at the two Chinese ships, but the Chinese satellites left in opposite directions. Then one of China's vehicles moved into position to get a sunlit view of the Space Force surveillance satellite that had been chasing it.