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Including features that are never used is bad design even if they don't compromise every other aspect of the design.

What mainly doomed the shuttle was the DoD requirement that the shuttle be able to pluck a satellite from a polar orbit in one orbit, making it necessary to include the massive wings so that it wouldn't be forced to land in the Pacific as the world rotated underneath it.

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Perhaps because it existed, it never had to be used. Deterrence is a feature. An ounce of prevention, as they say.

If they’d used those features it wouldn’t be public knowledge

Yes it would. There's no such thing as a secret satellite, it's impossible to hide them. General astronomy would notice that their's one less satellite.

> There's no such thing as a secret satellite

No known secret satellites :)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misty_(satellite)

You absolutely could not conceal a polar shuttle launch. No such thing ever happened.

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