Russian satellite comes within 500 metres of US satellite in 'potentially dangerous' manoeuvre

A Russian satellite performed a series of close-proximity manoeuvres near an American radar-imaging satellite, according to space-tracking company LeoLabs. The government-owned satellite, Cosmos 2612, got too close to ICEYE-X36 between October 15 and 19. It was only about five kilometres away from the US-operated satellite for two whole days before finally moving to a distance of 100 kilometres, Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist, said.

According to Breaking Defense, ICEYE-X36 was providing synthetic aperture radar imagery to Ukraine. The reason for this operation remains a mystery, but experts are clear that it was potentially dangerous.

Russian satellites changing their alignment to match American satellites

Notably, Cosmos 2612 was launched along with five other military satellites on April 16 in the past few months, four of which recently adjusted their orbit to align with the ICEYE spacecraft. This led US military officials to keep an eye on the Russian satellites. Last week, they noticed Cosmos 2612 aggressively stalking the US satellite. It came within 500 meters of the satellite and moved behind and ahead of ICEYE-X36.

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Intentional or accidental?

LeoLabs said in a statement that the Russian spacecraft "conducted a deliberate series of manoeuvres toward ICEYE-X36." Satellite tracking experts weren't sure whether this was deliberate, but Marco Langbroek, a satellite-tracking specialist at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, said that the manoeuvres "were clearly designed to bring the two objects very close and synchronise their orbital periods, orbital altitude and eccentricity."

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He issued a stark warning, saying this could be an "anti-satellite weapon developing in space." This is the first case of Russia targeting a commercial satellite. "To my knowledge, this is the first LEO rendezvous of two active satellites where the owner of one of the sats did not give approval," McDowell wrote on X.

Russia has been previously accused of similar actions. In 2022, one of its satellites launched into the same orbital plane as a US military satellite. Then in 2025, Russia’s Cosmos 2588 was placed too close to a US reconnaissance satellite, USA 338.