Russian Military Satellite Closes In on Ukraine-Linked Radar Craft, Then Backs Away
· Free Press Journal
A Russian military satellite, Kosmos 2612, moved to within about 5 km of a radar satellite that provides imagery to Ukraine before beginning to pull back this week. Analysts say the approach was deliberate, and some call it possibly unprecedented. No hostile intent has been confirmed.
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What exactly happened?
On October 15, Kosmos 2612 closed the gap to ICEYE-X36 from about 350 km to under 5 km by early October 16, LeoLabs said, as reported by CNN. It then held that close position through the weekend, making small adjustments to stay near the target. By Monday it had started to move away. S2a Systems, a Swiss space-monitoring company, captured a time-lapse of the Russian satellite following ICEYE-X36 at close range.
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ICEYE-X36 is a synthetic aperture radar satellite operated by the US division of Finnish-founded ICEYE. These satellites can image the ground day or night, through cloud. Reports say ICEYE imagery is used by Ukraine's military. Kosmos 2612 was launched in April 2026 on a Soyuz-2.1b rocket from Plesetsk, with five other military satellites, Defence Blog reported.
What the manoeuvre could mean?
LeoLabs said such manoeuvres could be used to "inspect, characterise, shadow, or potentially interfere with another spacecraft." Astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell wrote that the move could be the first time one spacecraft approached another without permission, CNN reported. What Kosmos 2612 was meant to achieve is not clear, and Russia's equipment and mission are undisclosed.
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Nothing public shows that Kosmos 2612 touched, jammed or damaged ICEYE-X36. Whether Russia targeted the satellite because of its link to Ukraine is analysts' inference, not confirmed. It is also unclear why Kosmos 2612 backed away.