Friday, January 31, 2020

Is A Russian Spacecraft Shadowing An American Spy Satellite?


Daily Mail: Mysterious Russian spacecraft has maneuvered into orbit right behind a $4 billion US spy satellite - and the Pentagon is worried it could be preparing for an attack

* Cosmos 2542 is a Russian 'space apparatus inspector' designed to monitor other satellites in space
* After it launched in November 2019, it was bypassing a US spy satellite, USA 245, every 11 or 12 days
* However, between January 20-23, Cosmos 2542 made several maneuvers to end up in the same orbit as the US satellite
* It is now closely following USA 245, which experts say could mean it is taking photos or preparing to attack

A Russian 'inspector' spacecraft has changed its orbit to closely follow a secret American spy satellite.

On January 20, Cosmos 2542 maneuvered so it was behind USA 245, a satellite that gathers images for military and intelligence purposes for the $4billion KH-11 photo reconnaissance project.

The Russian craft is a 'space apparatus inspector,' meaning it's designed to monitor other satellites in space - and the US government has warned that it can use cameras and sensors to gather information about other satellites or even use high-power microwaves, lasers or radio frequency jammers to launch an attack.

Read more ....

Update #1: Why Is Mystery Russian Spacecraft Suddenly Stalking Secret U.S. Spy Satellite? (Daily Beast)
Update #2: A Russian "Inspector" Spacecraft Now Appears To Be Shadowing An American Spy Satellite (Warzone/The Drive)
Update #3: A Russian satellite seems to be tailing a US spy satellite in Earth orbit (The Verge)

WNU Editor: Satellites spying on other satellites.

3 comments:

  1. Cool as hell. Wait for the combat between these inspection satalites. Aka those mini shuttle robots the americans fly for record breaking durations.

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  2. Not the first time something like this has happened.

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  3. Good point, anon. We could likely place a large magnet on or near one of those dudes. That ought to scramble signals.

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