IRCB S73-7 Satellite Found After Going Untracked For 25 Years

When the United States launched the KH-9 Hexagon spy satellite into orbit atop a Titan IIID rocket in 1974, it brought a calibration target along for the ride: the Infra-Red Calibration Balloon (IRCB) S73-7. This 66 cm (26 inch) diameter inflatable satellite was ejected by the KH-9, but failed to inflate into its intended configuration and became yet another piece of space junk. Initially it was being tracked in the 1970s, but vanished until briefly reappearing in the 1990s. Now it’s popped up again, twenty-five years later.


This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://hackaday.com/2024/05/12/ircb-s73-7-satellite-found-after-going-untracked-for-25-years/