According to Gillinger, the cross-sectional distances between the four Russian satellites and ICEYE-X36 now range between about 500 meters (1,640 feet) and 22 kilometers (13.7 miles). All of this takes place in a polar orbit at an altitude of about 340 miles (547 kilometers).
Russian satellite operators are now in a position to approach the ICEYE satellite with “small adjustments” to “the satellite eccentricity and average altitudes,” Gillinger wrote in his newsletter. A fifth satellite from the same Russian launch last month appears to now be performing a similar set of maneuvers to approach ICEYE-X36.
Coplanar or cosplay?
We know little about what these particular Kosmos satellites can do. Perhaps, as a retired US military space official recently told Ars, this is another example of Russia waving a dull saber. Russian military officers appear to enjoy vetting U.S. and allied forces, often flying strategic bombers near U.S. and European airspace.
This same behavior now appears to extend to space, with Russia launching several military spacecraft following the US government’s most sophisticated spy satellites into low-Earth orbit several hundred miles above the planet. American officials believe that at least some of these Russian satellites are part of an anti-satellite weapons program.
More recently, a The mysterious Russian military satellite has arrived in geosynchronous orbit more than 22,000 miles above the equator. Circumstantial evidence suggests this may also be part of a Russian anti-satellite system. The US Space Force sent one of its own survey satellites into geosynchronous orbit to take a closer look.
Radar image of a bridge in Crimea taken by an ICEYE satellite.
Credit: ICEYE
Radar image of a bridge in Crimea taken by an ICEYE satellite.
Credit: ICEYE
Targeting a single spacecraft, such as ICEYE-X36, in a constellation of similar imaging satellites would do little to inhibit access by Ukraine or other Western nations to radar surveillance imagery. ICEYE itself operates dozens more radar imaging satellites. Unlike optical spy satellites, radars provide images day and night, regardless of cloud cover.
