Russian Satellite Stalking U.S. Radar Satellite

European officials are watching with increasing concern as the Russians maneuver a satellite to within a thousand yards of a satellite that provides much of targeting information on Russian military assets to Ukraine. The ICEYE X36 is a U.S.-registered commercial synthetic aperture radar satellite owned by Finnish American company ICEYE. It provides high resolution radar imagery of Russian assets allowing pinpoint strikes on those positions. It was launched in 2024. The Russian satellite, called Cosmos 2612 is one of four that Russia moved into the same orbital plane as the ICEYE over the last few months. Last week it moved into what is being described as the first orbital rendezvous between two satellites in which one of the satellite operators has not given consent. It’s being described as “clear act of orbital aggression.” A company named Comspoc keeps tabs on satellite positions and gave this description.

There is no question the repositioning was deliberate. To get within a thousand yards of the ICEYE, the Cosmos satellite had to use a lot of fuel in series of burns that began on Sept 30. On Oct. 17 it made a slow pass by the ICEYE and then matched its speed and orbit and it can now shadow the spy satellite without using any more fuel. So far, it apparently hasn’t done anything to interfere with the ICEYE but without actually bashing into it, the Russian satellite could jam or otherwise mess with its signals. There are no formal rules on this kind of thing and neither the U.S. nor ICEYE have spoken publicly about it.

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