A Russian military satellite, also known as an “inspector satellite,” recently came dangerously close to a Finnish satellite that provides high-resolution images to Ukraine, in what industry experts believe was a deliberate maneuver to demonstrate the Russian satellites’ ability to monitor or interfere with the activities of other satellites in orbit, reports the Russian publication Kommersant.
Thus, on October 17, the Russian military satellite Cosmos-2612, which is part of the Rassvet group of the Ministry of Defense, began to approach the Finnish satellite ICEYE-X36.
According to the American company LeoLabs, which monitors space objects from Earth’s orbit, at one point, the distance between the two satellites decreased to approximately 4.8 kilometers.
Subsequently, the Dutch satellite observer Marco Langbroek estimated this distance to be only 1-2 km.
According to the Integrity ISR analysis, Cosmos-2612 has altered its trajectory and descended to a lower orbit, adjusting its parameters so as to align its orbital plane with that of the Finnish satellite.
On October 19, after a series of maneuvers by Cosmos-2612, the distance was reduced to 26 meters, notes the Moscow Times.
The relative speed of Cosmos-2612, compared to the Finnish satellite, was thus reduced until it reached zero – which means that it came to move at the same speed as the Finnish satellite that provides Kiev with valuable information.
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