A Russian military satellite, Cosmos 2612, has moved very close to ICEYE-X36, a radar imaging satellite run by the Finnish-American company ICEYE, Meduza reports, citing the space-tracking firm LeoLabs and independent observers.
LeoLabs said on 16 October that the Russian craft appeared to be deliberately approaching the satellite, cutting the gap from more than 320km to under 5km in a day. The Russian launch analyst Georgy Trishkin said the distance had shrunk to about 26 metres by Monday and suggested the aim could be to force the other satellite to burn fuel avoiding it.
ICEYE and the US Defense Department declined to comment. A Ukrainian official told Axios that Ukraine's military uses ICEYE's services but could not say whether this satellite was involved. Ukraine signed an expanded imagery agreement with the company in January.
Source: Meduza
