current conventional satellites

The technology we would call "conventional" and that the public is aware of is not the level of tech that the military and governments are using.

These new technologies are typically held back for years, decades, and sometimes never disclosed.

i.e. have you heard of nuclear reactors that run on thorium instead of uranium? They are in use by governments and have been for a while now. Meltdown proof clean energy that can't be used to make bombs. Disclosure would change the world radically including killing the causes of so called "climate change"

Look how many companies in the US are now mining thorium over the last decade.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK591328/table/ch5.tab2/