A newly launched Russian satellite has uncomfortably positioned itself next to an American reconnaissance satellite, leading Space Command to worry that it is part of an anti-satellite weapon being deployed in orbit.
Cosmos 2588 was launched on May 23 into a near-circular orbit, placing it eerily close to the US reconnaissance satellite USA 338. The move has raised suspicions that Russia is trying to deliberately target the U.S. government satellite. This is not the first time that Russia has deployed a covert satellite to follow another satellite and allegedly observe it in orbit, but this time it may be related to Russia’s controversial anti-satellite program.
“The U.S. Space Command can confirm that a recent launch of a Russian satellite placed it in orbit near a U.S. government satellite,” Breaking Defense quoted a space command spokesperson as saying. “Russia continues to research, develop, test, and deploy a range of anti-space systems that threaten the security and stability of the domain, so as with all objects in orbit, USSPACECOM will continue to monitor behavior or activity associated with this launch.”
Slingshot Aerospace reports that the suspected spy satellite, Cosmos 2588, is a NIVELIR military reconnaissance satellite that is likely to carry a kinetic weapon. Its coincidence with USA 338 “strongly suggests that COSMOS 2588 may be actively tracking or ‘stalking’ it,” the satellite tracking company said in a statement.
Slingshot Aerospace tracked both satellites and found that Cosmos 2588 was orbiting at a slightly higher altitude and that the two objects would fly close to each other about every four days. The two satellites are approaching within 62 miles (100 kilometers) of each other, Marco Langbroek, an astronomer and space situational awareness expert at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, wrote on X.
Little is known about USA 338 as it has no publicly available orbital data, but it is believed to be part of the US National Reconnaissance Office’s KH series electro-optical surveillance network known as the Crystal constellation, according to Interesting Engineering.
This is not the first time that Russia has allegedly deployed a satellite for this purpose. In April 2023, a Russian satellite appeared to come close to a classified U.S. military satellite, and the Russian satellite Kosmos 2558, launched in August 2022, was deployed in the same orbital plane as the U.S. military satellite, called USA 326. In 2020, another Russian satellite, Kosmos 2542, chased the electro-optical spy satellite USA 245 in low Earth orbit.
The United States is not entirely innocent either. In June 2017, a classified U.S. military satellite, USA 276, crept to within 4 miles (6.4 kilometers) of the International Space Station. Earlier, in 1998, amateurs discovered a U.S. satellite that was also believed to have been used for space spying.
However, the Russian satellites are believed to be part of the country’s efforts to develop anti-satellite weapons designed to destroy other objects in space. In November 2021, Russia destroyed a defunct Soviet-era satellite in low Earth orbit, creating thousands of pieces of orbital debris. This test prompted the United Nations to draft a resolution against anti-satellite missile system (ASAT) testing, led by the Biden administration after the United States adopted a self-imposed ban on ASAT testing. 155 countries voted in favor of the resolution, while nine voted against, including Russia, China, Cuba, Syria, and Iran.
“This is the fourth time in five years that they’ve launched a satellite into a companion orbit with a US optical reconnaissance satellite,” Langbrook wrote on X. “So no, this is not just a coincidence, it’s a deliberate move.
