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| Science & Technology |
| US says Russia's ‘inspector' satellite, space weapon, tailing its spycraft |
| 2024-05-25 |
| [InterestingEngineering] The tensions between the US and Russia over space weaponization also surfaced at the UN Security Council. Russia’s latest satellite launch has caught the attention of US intelligence officials who believe the satellite could be a weapon designed to inspect and attack other satellites. The US Space Command (USSPACECOM) issued a statement on Tuesday, May 21, revealing that the Russian spacecraft launched last week is now trailing a US spy satellite in orbit. This raises concerns about the satellite’s potential to threaten critical US space assets. On May 16, Russia’s Soyuz rocket launched from its Plesetsk site, located about 500 miles (800 kilometers) north of Moscow. This mission launched at least nine satellites into low-Earth orbit, including Cosmos 2576, a Russian military “inspector” spacecraft. The US has often criticized these types of satellites for their reckless behavior. “We have observed nominal activity and assess it is likely a counterspace weapon presumably capable of attacking other satellites in low Earth orbit,” a USSPACECOM spokesperson said in a statement to Reuters. The spokesperson further stated, “Russia deployed this new counterspace weapon into the same orbit as a US government satellite.” SIMILARITIES TO PREVIOUS COUNTERSPACE PAYLOADS Cosmos 2576 bears a striking resemblance to previous Russian satellites launched in 2019 and 2022. These earlier satellites, like Cosmos 2542 and Cosmos 2543, exhibited concerning behavior, including approaching sensitive US spy satellites. In 2019, one such satellite released an object into space and closely followed a US intelligence satellite from the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), which oversees intelligence-gathering satellites. As of now, Cosmos 2576 has not approached any US satellite. However, space analysts have observed that it is in the same orbital ring as USA 314, a bus-sized NRO satellite launched in April 2021. US INTELLIGENCE AND ALLIED CONCERNS According to orbital data reviewed by Reuters, Cosmos 2576 appears to be trailing USA 314’s path at a faster speed, indicating that the two might come into closer proximity soon. US intelligence agencies had anticipated the launch of Cosmos 2576 and had informed their allies of their assessment prior to its deployment. The launch included both military and civilian payloads, a mix that took analysts by surprise. “This mix of military and civilian payloads was totally unexpected. Never seen that before on a Russian launch,” remarked Bart Hendrickx, a long-time analyst tracking Russia’s space program. IMPLICATIONS OF RUSSIAN SPACE ACTIVITIES The deployment of Cosmos 2576 comes amid growing concerns that Russia is developing space-based nuclear weapons capable of destroying entire networks of satellites. US officials believe that Russia has already launched at least one satellite, Cosmos 2553, which is related to its nuclear space weapon program. However, they have clarified that no nuclear weapon has been deployed in space by Russia yet. Since invading Ukraine in February 2022, Russia has made its space activities much more secretive and has threatened to target US satellites like SpaceX’s Starlink, a vast network of thousands of internet satellites in low-Earth orbit, which support the Ukrainian military. |
| Posted by:Skidmark |