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A Russian "Inspector" Spacecraft Now Appears To Be Shadowing An American Spy Satellite
The Russian satellite recently moved into a new position where it has an especially good view of a US KH-11 spy satellite.
30 Jan 2020
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zo...ars-to-be-shadowing-an-american-spy-satellite
Excerpt:
Publicly available data suggests that a Russian inspector satellite has shifted its position in orbit to bring it relatively close to a U.S. KH-11 spy satellite. Russia has a number of what it calls "space apparatus inspectors" in orbit, which the U.S. government and others warn the Kremlin could use to gather intelligence on other satellites or function as "killer satellites," using various means to damage, disable, or destroy those targets.
On Jan. 30, 2020, Michael Thompson, a graduate student at Purdue University focusing on astrodynamics, posted a detailed thread on Twitter about the Russian inspector satellite Cosmos 2542, also written Kosmos 2542, appearing to synchronize its orbit with a U.S. satellite known as USA 245, which is understood be one of the National Reconnaissance Office's KH-11 imagine gathering spy satellites. Russia launched this particular satellite from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome on Nov. 25, 2019, according to Space-Track.org, a U.S. government website that provides public data on space launches from the U.S. military's Combined Space Operations Center and the U.S.-Canadian North American Aerospace Defense Command. This is just one of a number of space apparatus inspectors and other curious satellites that the Kremlin has put into orbit over the past decade.
"This is all circumstantial evidence, but there are a hell of a lot of circumstances that make it look like a known Russian inspection satellite is currently inspecting a known US spy satellite," Thompson wrote. "A pretty thorough look of the satellite catalog can't produce another potential target that looks as good as this in terms of the orbits and viewing geometry."
Starting on Jan. 20, 2020, Cosmos 2542 had conducted a series of maneuvers to change its position and timing to match USA 245's "orbital period." The Russian satellite had previously been circling the planet in the same plane as its American counterpart, Thompson explained, but in such a way that the two only came relatively close to each other once every 11 to 12 days.
"Note that any two satellites in the same plane with offset periods will have passes like this at some regular cadence," Thomspon added. "It's enough to raise suspicion, but not prove anything."
However, how Cosmos 2542 is orbiting now means that it now has a "consistent view" of USA 245. "As I'm typing this, that offset distance shifts between 150 and 300km depending on the location in the orbit," according to Thompson.
A spacing of 150 to 300 kilometers, or between 93 and just short of 186 and a half miles, may not seem "close" by terrestrial standards, but it is for objects circling Earth in the vacuum of space at speeds of thousands of miles per hour. "The relative orbit is actually pretty cleverly designed, where Cosmos 2542 can observe one side of the KH11 when both satellites first come into sunlight, and by the time they enter eclipse, it has migrated to the other side," Thompson Tweeted, meaning that the Russian satellite has the potential opportunity to observe both sides of USA 245.
https://twitter.com/M_R_Thomp/status/1222990126650994698
The Russian satellite recently moved into a new position where it has an especially good view of a US KH-11 spy satellite.
30 Jan 2020
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zo...ars-to-be-shadowing-an-american-spy-satellite
Excerpt:
Publicly available data suggests that a Russian inspector satellite has shifted its position in orbit to bring it relatively close to a U.S. KH-11 spy satellite. Russia has a number of what it calls "space apparatus inspectors" in orbit, which the U.S. government and others warn the Kremlin could use to gather intelligence on other satellites or function as "killer satellites," using various means to damage, disable, or destroy those targets.
On Jan. 30, 2020, Michael Thompson, a graduate student at Purdue University focusing on astrodynamics, posted a detailed thread on Twitter about the Russian inspector satellite Cosmos 2542, also written Kosmos 2542, appearing to synchronize its orbit with a U.S. satellite known as USA 245, which is understood be one of the National Reconnaissance Office's KH-11 imagine gathering spy satellites. Russia launched this particular satellite from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome on Nov. 25, 2019, according to Space-Track.org, a U.S. government website that provides public data on space launches from the U.S. military's Combined Space Operations Center and the U.S.-Canadian North American Aerospace Defense Command. This is just one of a number of space apparatus inspectors and other curious satellites that the Kremlin has put into orbit over the past decade.
"This is all circumstantial evidence, but there are a hell of a lot of circumstances that make it look like a known Russian inspection satellite is currently inspecting a known US spy satellite," Thompson wrote. "A pretty thorough look of the satellite catalog can't produce another potential target that looks as good as this in terms of the orbits and viewing geometry."
Starting on Jan. 20, 2020, Cosmos 2542 had conducted a series of maneuvers to change its position and timing to match USA 245's "orbital period." The Russian satellite had previously been circling the planet in the same plane as its American counterpart, Thompson explained, but in such a way that the two only came relatively close to each other once every 11 to 12 days.
"Note that any two satellites in the same plane with offset periods will have passes like this at some regular cadence," Thomspon added. "It's enough to raise suspicion, but not prove anything."
However, how Cosmos 2542 is orbiting now means that it now has a "consistent view" of USA 245. "As I'm typing this, that offset distance shifts between 150 and 300km depending on the location in the orbit," according to Thompson.
A spacing of 150 to 300 kilometers, or between 93 and just short of 186 and a half miles, may not seem "close" by terrestrial standards, but it is for objects circling Earth in the vacuum of space at speeds of thousands of miles per hour. "The relative orbit is actually pretty cleverly designed, where Cosmos 2542 can observe one side of the KH11 when both satellites first come into sunlight, and by the time they enter eclipse, it has migrated to the other side," Thompson Tweeted, meaning that the Russian satellite has the potential opportunity to observe both sides of USA 245.
https://twitter.com/M_R_Thomp/status/1222990126650994698
