Russian space object raises concerns in West

It is a tale that could have come straight from the cold war. A mysterious object launched by the Russian military is being tracked by western space agencies, stoking fears over the revival of a defunct Kremlin project to destroy satellites.

For the past few weeks, amateur astronomers and satellite-trackers in Russia and the West have followed the unusual manoeuvres of Object 2014-28E in the skies, watching it guide itself towards other Russian space objects in a pattern that appeared to culminate last weekend in a rendezvous with the remains of the rocket stage that launched it.

The object had originally been classed as space debris, propelled into orbit as part of a Russian rocket launch in May to add three Rodnik communications satellites to an existing military constellation. The US military is now tracking it under the Norad designation 39765.

Its purpose is unknown, and could be civilian: a project to hoover up space junk, for example. Or a vehicle to repair or refuel existing satellites. But interest has been piqued by the fact that Russia did not declare its launch – and by the object’s peculiar, and very active, precision movements across the skies.

Weaponry programme

Russia officially mothballed its anti-satellite weaponry programme – Istrebitel Sputnikov or satellite killer – after the fall of the Iron Curtain, though its expertise in the field has never entirely disappeared. Indeed, military officials have publicly stated in the past that they would restart research into the programme in the event of a deterioration in relations with the US over anti-missile defence treaties. In 2010, Oleg Ostapenko, the commander of Russia’s space forces, and now head of Russia’s space agency, said Russia was again developing “inspection” and “strike” satellites. Russia’s ministry of defence did not respond to a request for comment.

“Whatever it is looks experimental,” said Patricia Lewis, of think-tank Chatham House and an expert in space security. “It could have a number of functions, some civilian and some military – one possibility is for some kind of grabber bar. Another would be kinetic pellets which shoot out at another satellite. Or possibly there could be a satellite-to-satellite cyber attack.”– (The Financial Times)