USA-202

USA 202,[3] previously NRO Launch 26 or NROL-26, is a classified spacecraft which is operated by the United States National Reconnaissance Office.According to Aviation Week, it "fundamentally involves America's biggest, most secret and expensive military spacecraft on board the world's largest rocket."[4] The combined cost of the spacecraft and launch vehicle has been estimated to be over US$2 billion.[4] Amateur astronomer observations suspected the satellite was eavesdropping on Thuraya 2 and this was reported to be confirmed by documents released on Sep 9, 2016[5] by The Intercept as part of the Snowden Files.The launch was originally scheduled for 2005, but was delayed due to a number of issues, and lift-off took place at 02:47 GMT on 18 January 2009.
Thuraya 2COSPAR IDSATCAT no.Delta IV HeavyCape CanaveralSLC-37BUnited Launch AllianceGeocentricGeosynchronousPerigee altitudeApogee altitudeInclinationPeriodclassifiedspacecraftNational Reconnaissance OfficeAdvanced OrionAviation Weeklaunch vehicleThurayaThe InterceptSnowdenSpace Launch Complex 37BCape Canaveral Air Force StationDelta IVUnion of Concerned ScientistsJonathan's Space ReportUnited Statesreconnaissance satellitesPhotographicKH-1 CoronaKH-2 CoronaKH-3 CoronaKH-4A CoronaKH-4B CoronaKH-5 ArgonKH-6 LanyardKH-7 GambitKH-8 Gambit 3KH-9 HexagonKH-10 DorianElectro-opticalKH-11 KennenEnhanced Imaging SystemSynthetic-aperture radarLacrosseSIGINTLow Earth orbitWhite CloudSamos-FHighly elliptical orbitJumpseatTrumpetGeosynchronous Earth orbitCanyonMagnumMentor (Orion)MercuryRhyolite/AquacadeVortexMASINTUSA-193National Reconnaissance Office satellite launches← 2008Orbital launches in 20092010 →Orion 6Sohla-1Koronas-FotonNOAA-19Progress M-66Ekspress-AM44Ekspress-MD1Hot Bird 10Spirale-ASpirale-BTelstar 11NKeplerSTS-119ITS S6USA-203Soyuz TMA-14USA-204Kwangmyŏngsŏng-2RISAT-2ANUSATSICRAL 1BUSA-205Progress M-02MSTS-125HerschelPlanckProtoStar 2TacSat-3PharmaSatAeroCube-3HawkSat-1Meridian 2Soyuz TMA-15LCROSSMEASAT-3aGOES 14Sirius FM-5TerreStar-1Kosmos 2451Kosmos 2452RazakSATSTS-127JEM-EFProgress M-67DubaiSat-1Deimos-1UK-DMC 2Nanosat-1BAprizeSat-3AprizeSat-4AsiaSat 5USA-206JCSAT-RAOptus D3STSat-2ASTS-128Leonardo MPLMPalapa-DUSA-207 / PANMeteor-M No.1Sterkh-2SumbandilaSatUGATUSATUniversitetsky-Tatyana-2Nimiq 5Oceansat-2Rubin 9.1Rubin 9.2BeeSat-1ITU-pSat1SwissCube-1USA-208STSS-Demo 1USA-209STSS-Demo 2Soyuz TMA-16WorldView-2Progress M-03MThor 6PROBA-2Progress M-MIM2Shijian 11-01STS-129ExPRESS-1ExPRESS-2Intelsat 14Eutelsat W7Intelsat 15USA-211Kosmos 2456Kosmos 2457Kosmos 2458Helios IIBSoyuz TMA-17DirecTV-12