Three Russian satellites appear to operate independently and
outside routine orbits while one, called Luch, has been orbiting close to U.S.
commercial Intelsat satellites and potential spying on their operations.
Space News reported:
Many in the space community believe the incident marks one of the first publicly documented times a commercial operator has been subject to this kind of approach by a foreign military satellite. The episode also raises questions about what kind of recourse commercial satellite companies have in these situations.
In addition to the Luch satellite, launched in September
2014, Russia launched Cosmos 2499 (pictured above) in May 2014 and Cosmos 2504
in March 2015. All three spacecraft have worried U.S. space and military
officials who believe the Russians are testing anti-satellite technology.
Of course, as I have noted before, the US Air Force is not
helpless. The X37B unmanned space shuttle, which can stay in orbit for more
than a year at a time, appears to be our not-so-secret weapon that can most
likely capture and destroy worrisome satellites. Hence, we appear to be on the
brink of a new war arena and, like Ukraine and Syria, Russia is spoiling for a
fight.
Update: The Russians are now attempting to explain the
mysterious Luch satellite, stating it is
...simply a relay satellite, sending signals from spacecraft to Earth, for example from the International Space Station — we have communications problems there — and from one satellite to another.
I am not convinced.
