Crossword Genius

Brand-new CIA finally following satellite state (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

iowa

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'state' is the definition.
(I know that Iowa is a state)

'brand-new cia finally following satellite' is the wordplay.
'brand new' becomes 'w' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'finally' suggests the final letters.
'following' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'satellite' becomes 'Io' (Io is a moon of Jupiter).
The final letter of 'cia' is 'a'.
'w'+'a'='wa'
'wa' after 'io' is 'IOWA'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for iowa that I've seen before include "State of USA" , "US swing electoral state" , "Central US state" , "'Hawkeye State'" , "part of United States" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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