'Whatever Russia is testing, it's sophisticated': 2 Russian satellites get within 10 feet of each other in orbit

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Two Russian spacecraft just demonstrated a very particular set of orbital skills.

The satellites, known as COSMOS 2581 and COSMOS 2583, got within just 10 feet (3 meters) or so of each other on April 28, according to COMSPOC, a Pennsylvania-based space situational awareness company.

"This wasn't a coincidental pass — COSMOS 2583 performed several fine maneuvers to maintain this tight configuration," COMSPOC wrote in a May 1 X post, which featured an animation of the rendezvous.

The two satellites and a third one, COSMOS 2582, launched to low Earth orbit in February 2025 atop a Soyuz rocket. According to COMSPOC, all three of them were involved in the recent rendezvous and proximity operations (RPO), as was "Object F," a subsatellite previously deployed by COSMOS 2583.

During the 10-foot close approach, "COSMOS 2582 trailed the formation at sub-100 km range, while Object F passed within 15 km of 2582 and within 10 km of 2581 — neither maneuvered," wrote COMPSOC, which analyzed radar tracking data gathered by the California company LeoLabs.

"For context: in late 2025 to now, we tracked these same COSMOS satellites performing 3-object RPO," COMSPOC added in the May 1 X post. "Whatever Russia is testing, it's sophisticated."

Such sophisticated orbital maneuvering is not exactly surprising; we've seen similar things from Russia before. For example, according to outside observers, the nation has operated multiple "inspector satellites," including COSMOS 2542, which made a close approach to a U.S. spy satellite in 2020.

The other major space powers have such capabilities as well. American and Chinese satellites have also been observed checking out other nations' spacecraft high above Earth.