Star Wars: Russian satellite threatens satellite of Finnish-American company

The Russian military satellite "Kosmos-2612" has critically approached the radar satellite X36 of the Finnish-American company ICEYE, which supplies data to Ukraine. According to the monitoring resource Orbital Radar, the current distance between these satellites in orbit is only 26 meters, while a distance of less than one kilometer is considered critical for satellite proximity. The speed of the satellites relative to each other is zero. The Washington Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) noted on October 15 that "Kosmos-2612" has taken a course toward approaching X36. According to analysts from this organization, the Russian satellite may take actions that threaten the Western device. Space popularizer Georgy Trishkin suggests in his Telegram channel that this may involve an attempt to force the operators of X36 to frequently adjust the orbit of their satellite, which could potentially lead to increased fuel consumption and a reduction in the operational lifespan of the device. "Kosmos-2612" was launched into low Earth orbit in April 2026, along with five other Russian satellites. The company ICEYE was founded in Finland in 2014 and has an American subsidiary. The radars of ICEYE satellites can capture images at night and through cloud cover. The company provides satellite data to U.S. government customers and Ukraine. However, it is not precisely known whether intelligence data is specifically supplied to Kyiv from the X36 satellite, Trishkin points out. ## ## Russia threatened German satellites in space This is not the first instance of Russian satellites behaving threateningly toward Western ones. In November 2025, media reported that Russian orbital devices were approaching Bundeswehr satellites at a distance where signal interception is possible. The operation of one of the German satellites was disrupted. In April of the same year, American analysts detected signs of the malfunction of the Russian satellite "Kosmos-2553". U.S. authorities stated that this satellite is part of Russia's program for developing nuclear weapons to destroy orbital systems like Starlink, which are used in repelling attacks from Russia by Ukrainian forces. "Kosmos-2553" was launched into orbit a few weeks before the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.