You could have satellite detection rely more on using another range in the electromagnetic spectrum since having enough coverage for visual detection is too difficult (think RADAR for example) with the ship providing some unique solution for it. Either like airplanes do to prevent the signals bouncing off it to begin with, or something super high-tech where it analyzes that spectrum of radiation and then calculates what the response would be if it wasn’t there.
But that might be getting into too tech-garbled territory.