Is Russia testing a potential anti-satellite capability by manoeuvring its spacecraft dangerously close to Western satellites? Russia’s Cosmos 2612 reportedly approached ICEYE’s X36 satellite to within around one kilometre in mid-October, raising concerns over Moscow’s activities in orbit. The Finnish-operated ICEYE system provides radar imagery to Western governments and Ukraine, making it an important source of battlefield intelligence for Kyiv. U.S. officials have warned that Russian satellite manoeuvres could be linked to tests of space-based weapons, while one analyst described the encounter as a possible rehearsal for an attack. Now, two Russian satellites are reportedly approaching another ICEYE spacecraft, X37. Could commercial satellites supporting Ukraine be increasingly exposed to threats in space?
E-Paper
