American scientist Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysics researcher at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, has located the small satellite "S73-7" after 22 years of being lost in space, using tracking data obtained from the 18th Space Defense Squadron. Through the graphs he analyzed, researcher Jonathan identified two significant periods of missing data: from 1990 to the early 2000s and from 2002 to today, showing that the satellite has gradually been losing altitude, from its initial height of 805 kilometers to 790 kilometers today.
Jonathan McDowell stated, "The satellite was launched in 1974 aboard the reconnaissance satellite 'KH-9', referred to as the infrared calibration balloon, on April 10, 1974, as part of the U.S. Air Force's space test program." He continued, "As part of this mission, the satellite was intended to be separated from the reconnaissance satellite and enter a low Earth orbit. Once separated, the satellite, which has a diameter of 66 cm, would inflate a balloon that would continuously orbit the Earth at a distance of 500 miles. It was meant to assist in calibrating remote sensing equipment on Earth, aiding in the preparation and equipping of space devices. However, its deployment failed, and it has been missing since then on two occasions, first in 1970 and again in 1990."
He added, "This raises questions about how this satellite could seemingly disappear from radar for such a long time, and the reason may be a piece of the balloon that was not properly deployed. Since it is not metallic, it does not show up well on radar," according to the Gulf News website.
