HEO

We’ve captured one of our best images of the @Space_Station yet. The number of satellites in orbit is set to increase tenfold in the next decade. At the same time, space-to-space threats are rising and the need to inspect and maintain satellites is accelerating faster than anyone expected. Resolution alone won't deliver what's needed. True understanding comes from observing satellites frequently, from multiple angles and orbits, so you can see how they behave, respond to their environment, and what they're capable of across time and geography. That's why HEO focuses on high-frequency Non-Earth Imaging. Our technology is built for speed, scale, and adaptability, operating across multiple orbits with diverse satellite providers to deliver more coverage, more data, and faster insights into thousands of satellites. This approach will get us to a future where satellite inspection is truly on-demand. You tell us you want an image of your satellite and we deliver imagery and analysis when you need them. Image of the ISS captured with our partner @BlackSky_Inc.

Most satellites operate alone. These two are a duet. TerraSAR-X and TanDEM-X are among the most precisely coordinated formation-flying satellites ever operated. Launched three years apart, Germany's TerraSAR-X in 2007, TanDEM-X in 2010, they orbit in lockstep at ~508 km altitude, separated by just hundreds of metres while travelling at over 27,000 km/h. Together, one transmits and both receive, forming a large single-pass SAR interferometer that has produced a high-precision global digital elevation model (DEM) of Earth's entire land surface. Here, we captured both satellites in a single frame, at least 222 metres apart. While a single image shows what a satellite looks like at a moment in time, by imaging it repeatedly, we build a deeper understanding of how it operates, how it's configured, and how it behaves in space. *Measured in the 2D image plane. Any separation into the image plane is not captured, so this figure represents a minimum. The true distance may be greater.

@SpaceNerdChen An older image but we ❤️ Hubble x.com/heospace/statu…

@heospace give us the kh-11 (hubble will do just fine btw)

@LowIQSpaceymen That's the one!

@heospace Nope Long March 3B.

We imaged this rocket body in orbit and you can make out the logo. Can you identify it? Below is what our sensors captured, plus the measurements our analytics pulled from the image. Drop your answer below and we'll share it in the comments. Bonus points if you can name the payload it brought to space.

@starship_x7547 Precisely! Well done

@heospace Based on the logo, it can be confirmed that this is not a Long March 7A/8/8A, but most likely a Long March 3B (2025-242B 66176).

@Karl_kave LM-3B! ✅

@heospace LM-3A/3B/3C/7A/8 upper stage

@TNonna00 Super close - CZ-3B!

@heospace CZ-6 PRSC-EO3 or CZ-12A demo flight second stage but more likely cz-12A

@SpaceNerdChen Maybe they all are alien craft?

@heospace uh, um... is it an alien craft?

@thatwelshanon Maybe it isn't so obvious!

@heospace This is obviously a Black Arrow first stage.

@aeronatetech Long March 3B ✅

@heospace I'd identify that as Long March 3B from the proportions. HEO's spectral stacking is exceptional; this is exactly the debris characterization capability the UAE prioritizes while Canadian SSA infrastructure ages.

@KyleWGraves Would be awesome

@heospace Gimme some 60 year old S4Bs!!

@inloworbit You mean these? x.com/heospace/statu…

@heospace How about some spy sats

@BSF42069 Bingo!

@heospace LM-3B?

@PaulDow2026 We'll look out for the Thunderbird next

@heospace Is this it?

@tony873004 Great guess but not quite

@heospace 2017-018B / NORAD 42663. Shijian-13

@Truthful_ast You got it - it is a Long March 3B! But this one is from the October 26th mission that delivered Gaofen 14-02 to orbit rather than Fengyun-4C

@heospace Looks like a Long March 3 upper stage? possibly 3B? I'll take a guess for Fengyun-4C

@Johnmcelhone Bingo! Long March 3B!

@heospace Long March 3B/C. Flip the photo upside down and it’s more recognisable from the markings and stage height

@ARealRocketMan Not quite!

@heospace This is a Falcon 9 second-stage rocket body

@Cosmic_Penguin Great ID on the Long March 3B! Super close on the payload. This one launched a couple of months earlier though, from the October 26th mission that delivered Gaofen 14-02 to orbit.

@heospace Since this is very much certain to be a Long March 3B/C LH2/LOX 3rd stage, I'll put in my guess that this is from its previous successful launch on December 26 last year with the Chinese GEO weather satellite Fengyun-4C (2025-312A/67246). 😉

From a galaxy far, far away, they look. A Star Destroyer. A TIE Fighter. An X-Wing. But satellites, they are. Transparent, the galaxy becomes when you know where to look. #MayTheFourthBeWithYou