Watch: Russian military satellite closely approaches spacecraft in orbit

A recently released clip shows how a Russian military named Luch Olymp K-2 or Luch-2 closely approached a geostationary satellite. Similar manoeuvres have been observed by the Russian satellite’s predecessor which were reportedly found eavesdropping on other countries’ satellites over the past decade or so.

Russian militarysatellite’s 'sudden close'approach

The clip, released by a French startup named Aldoria which tracks satellites in orbit using a network of ground-based telescopes, shows what is presumably the Russian satellite approaching a stationary object.

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The company said that it alerted satellite operators last month after detecting a “sudden close approach” by Russia’s Luch-2 to a satellite positioned in geostationary orbit.

The incident occurred on April 12, and Aldoria said the Russian satellite is “known for its unusual manoeuvres” and it was predicted by them before the Luch-2 even made the move.

The French start-up did not disclose if the Russian satellite might have been spying or how close it was to the object.

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However, Aldoria told Space.com, that the minimum distance between the two objects was 10 kilometres, but as of Monday (Jun 3) about 20 to 50 kilometres apart.

‘Stakes are high’

The company, in a statement last month, said that the “stakes are high” and protecting public and private assets in orbit which “service fundamental economies is a necessity.”

“As #satelliteconstellations proliferate, so does the risk of collisions, amplifying the demand for #SpaceSituationalAwareness (#SSA) services,” it added.

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Notably, the clip came around the time when the United States intelligence and the Pentagon had accused Russia of trying to militarise space by deploying a different military inspector satellite into the same orbit as a US government satellite.

During a United Nations Security Council meeting, on May 20, US Ambassador Robert Wood speaking about the Russian military satellite, Cosmos 2576 said that it was “likely a counterspace weapon presumably capable of attacking other satellites in low Earth orbit.”

However, at the time Russia dismissed the claims calling it fake news. In recent months, Washington and Moscow have repeatedly accused each other of attempting to militarise space.

(With inputs from agencies)