con pilot, the U. S. military spy satellite tracked the plane and the ascent phase of the missile, but not the launch. But then again, the U. S. typically doesn't reveal all of a satellite's capabilities.
It was an infrared satellite, it can determine the launch site from the initial heat signature from when the missile was launched. I thought that was common knowledge, but if the powers to be don't want to make that public, well I guess we'll not be told.