Last Saturday, a 17,000 mph game of cat-and-mouse appears to have played out in low Earth orbit.
According to new images obtained by Axios, the Russian satellite Cosmos 2612 engaged in maneuvers that brought it within less than a mile of the Swedish-made Earth observation satellite Iceye-X36. According to the outlet’s reporting, the Russian craft burned fuel in order to adjust its altitude and speed to match that of the US-operated satellite.
In a post on social media, US undersecretary of state Thomas DiNanno blasted the Russian space agency for “exhibiting threatening behavior by intentionally maneuvering dangerously close to a commercial satellite,” which he claims are “consistent with on-orbit weapons operations.”
Russian officials, meanwhile, dismissed the accusation that its satellites are armed and ready for combat as “unfounded,” instead framing the event as an operation meant to counter Western intelligence sharing with the Ukrainian military.
